The Balance Protector
by winxluv101
Summary: Codatorta's daughter, Dakota, is the balance of good and evil. The Winx have the responsibility of keeping her safe from Valtor and the Wizards of the Black Circle. What would happen if her power got into the wrong hands, or if she wasn't alone?
1. Meeting Dakota

The Winx were rushing over to Red Fountain after receiving an urgent message from Ms. Faragonda. So Bloom, Stella, Flora, Musa, Tecna, Layla, and Roxy all set off immediately. They were greeted by their boyfriends.

"Sky!" Bloom grasped Sky's neck and hugged him tightly, "Its so good to see you again"

Sky laughed as he hugged her back, "Hey, Bloom. Its good to see you too"

Musa crossed her arms, "Riven"

Riven crossed his arms and smirked, "Musa." Musa laughed as she hugged Riven.

"No matter how much I've missed you, Flora. What are you all doing here?" Helia asked as he looked Flora in her bright green eyes.

"Oh," Roxy looked at Helia, "I can answer that. Ms. Faragonda wanted us to come here for an urgent mission"

"Oh, I guess that's part of the reason we got a new recruit on our squad" Timmy said as Roxy handed him the note and he started to read it:

_Dear Winx,_

_I have a very important mission for you all._

_I have not been telling you everything entirely, though._

_Valtor has escaped from Obsidian with the help of Duman and has recruited the wizards from the Omega dimension so __they are all out for revenge against you._

_They have a target that could possibly be your end._

_I have sent the boys to come and get you, and I promise I will explain everything once you arrive._

_~Ms. Faragonda_

The boys looked at the Winx in astonishment, "Oh boy. That's _not_ good" Brandon said as Stella let go of him and they all started heading for Saladin's office.

"Of course its not good, but we must do what ever it takes to keep them from that target" Tecna said as they finally reached the office.

Waiting for them was Ms. Faragonda, Ms. Griffin, Headmaster Saladin, and Codatorta. Saladin gestured for the girls to have a seat with his hand, and as they sat, the Specialists stood behind them.

"Thank you for joining us girls. This is a matter that we all need to discuss" Ms. Griffin said seriously.

"What is it, Ms. Griffin? If it involves any evil, we'll surely do anything to help" said Roxy, "Even though I have _no _idea who Valtor is"

The Winx all looked at each other and said in unison, "You don't wanna know"

Roxy shrugged it off as Ms. Faragonda continued, "Their target is someone who is very important to the balance"

"Who is it?" Bloom asked, fearing the answer was someone who was evil.

Codatorta sighed, "Its my daughter...Dakota"

"Why are they after your daughter?" Musa asked worriedly.

"She is a very powerful fairy, who has extraordinary power"

"Indeed," Saladin continued, "Dakota has been practicing magic as long as she's been born. Her power is increased by her strengths, both physical and emotional. Her power is great."

The adults all looked at each other, "She is the balance...between good and evil" Ms. Faragonda said as Codatorta hung his head in sadness...

* * *

The five wizards were in their hideout plotting on how to capture Dakota. They all were aware of her great powers and stability.

"This balance will be the key to the final, greatest battle in all of Magix" Valtor said as he watched the fairies, Specialists, and teachers through a spell that he used to make their images appear.

"What do we know about this _balance_ so far?" Ogron said as he watched the images. Anagan and Gantlos were still partially healing their small wounds.

"Hm. Well its a fairy, and the daughter of a Red Fountain teacher. Interesting"

"Seems like he cares a lot about her" Duman said as he sat down.

"It disgusts me" Gantlos grumbled.

"_Everything_ disgusts you, Gantlos" Anagan said as he stood up.

Valtor grunted, "Do you all always speak so...openly?"

"They only do that when they're bored" Ogron shook his head, ashamed.

"Hm, well they should go look for, Dakota"

"Okay, we will" Duman said as he walked up to the image. He used his fingers to decrease the zoom on the office and into the outside of Red Fountain, and in the Arena.

"Found her"

Valtor watched the image as the Alfea fairies, Cloud Tower witches, and Red Fountain Specialists gathered in the Arena. The Winx, Alfea teachers, Ms. Faragonda, Codatorta, Saladin, and Ms. Griffin were all in the middle as everyone settled down...

* * *

_"Attention students, we have a very important announcement to make" _Ms. Faragonda stated as the crowd settled into their seats and stayed quiet.

_"Now girls, we know that ever since the Trix have been sent to Light Rock permanently, you all have gotten along much better" _Ms. Griffin said as she held the microphone.

_"But now, we have a big threat that all of you must take part in. It involves all of you protecting a fairy"_

The witches all looked at each other, one of them raised their hand.

_"Um, Ms. Griffin? No matter how many of my friends are fairies, why do we all have to protect one fairy?"_

_"Because this fairy is very powerful. She is also the very balance between good and evil"_

There were murmurs all around the Arena about the fairy. Some were talking about what she looked like and others were talking about how powerful she really was.

Codatorta took the mic_, "Her name is Dakota, and she must be protected because our worst enemies have now returned and are seeking revenge"_

_"Those enemies would be the wizards of the black circle" _Bloom said seriously_._

The crowd was now shouting out things like 'Who are they?' and 'Why are they attacking?'

_"And Valtor"_

The fairies and witches were now screaming and crying at the same time.

_"But last time he was here he made every witch a minion!"_

_"Why is he back! I thought he was dead, or at least in Obsidian!"_

* * *

Valtor smirked, "Oh, they remember me"

Ogron looked at him surprisedly, "You made witches into _minions_. Why? Fairies are more powerful"

Valtor rolled is eyes, "Yes, I realize that"

The crowd was going crazy at hear Valtor's name being called.

"Quiet! Everyone, quiet!" Codatorta yelled, causing everyone to settle down, "I need every last one of you to make sure that no harm comes to her, understood!"

"YES CODATORTA!" Everyone in the Arena yelled together in unison as a slender girl walked into the Arena as well.

"I'm sorry, am I late?" she asked.

Codatorta smiled as the girl stepped onto the stage, "Not at all. Everyone, this is Dakota, my daughter. She will be staying at Alfea for the times sake. You are all dismissed"

Now they were all really talking as they started to leave, but the Winx all stayed with the Headmaster and Headmistresses.

"Hello, Dakota. My name is Roxy" Roxy stuck her hand out to Dakota, who gladly shook it.

"Its very nice to meet you, Roxy. My father has told me a bit about you all" Dakota looked around at the Winx and counted on her fingers, "There's you, Bloom, Stella, Flora, Tecna, Musa, and Layla"

"We're going to be great friends, I just know it" Stella said as she hooked her arm with Dakota's and started to lead her to Alfea.

The Winx said good-bye to the others as they and Ms. Faragonda left to Alfea...

* * *

**Hi everyone. This is going to be a great start to me moving off of my one topic and moving towards new things, like Codatorta. NOBODY has made any stories about him so I just did.**

**winxluv**


	2. Questions & Answers

The girls were walking back to Alfea with Ms. Faragonda and Dakota was getting asked _many_ questions.

"Where did you get your clothes! They are gorgeous" Stella squealed.

"I designed them myself. You really like these?"

"Definetly"

"How long have you been knowing about your powers?" Musa asked.

"All my life"

"How long have you been practicing combat?" Tecna looked at her in astonishment.

"Since I was about 6"

"Really, how old are you?" Musa asked.

Before Dakota could reply, Ms. Faragonda interrupted, "Alright girls. That's enough questions for now. She'll answer everyone's questions when we get to Alfea"

"Okay, and by the way, I'm 18"

Dakota had nearly spoken the words when a blue troll appeared out of the Black Mud Swamp. It was glaring at the girls, but they didn't notice it, so it charged while Bloom started talking.

"Now Dakota, while you are under our supervision, you will not need to lift a finger in battle, okay?" Bloom turned to see Dakota in her fairy form, battling the troll. The Winx stared at her in astonishment as Ms. Faragonda smiled.

Dakota's fairy form was a golden sparkle crop top with a matching pair of shorts, both connected by black strings that criss-crossed around her midsection. They both had silver, red , and black accents around the edges. Her dirty blonde hair in one braid, her Converse were now sandals that went up to her knees, and her wings were silver tipped, and with a soft and sharp appearance, and the main colors were gold and silver. She held a long staff, like Stella's in season 1, but it had a black gem in the middle, not an orange one.

"Calm, beast. Go back" Dakota's eyes had changed to the color black as she held her staff pointed at the troll. The troll stopped charging and it gazed at Dakota as it slowly started to back away. When it had gotten out of eye sight, she de-transformed, her eyes went back to being its deep blue, and she turned back to Bloom.

"Before you say anything, I was never going to harm it"

"Why didn't you fight it, though? It could've hurt you" Stella said as she checked Dakota for a fever, "And if you get hurt, Codatorta will hurt _us_"

"I can answer that for her," Ms. Faragonda interrupted, "Dakota may have to stay in balance with her good and evil sides, but she does her best not to harm her enemies or her targets"

"Indeed, I try my best not to pick fights, it will only cause major conflict. I only use my powers when I feel threatened, and that troll posed no threat to me at all"

"Cool staff" Tecna said as she reached for the staff in her hands, but she pulled it away.

"Sorry, Tecna, but the only one who can touch this staff is me. It won't allow anyone else because I am its owner"

"Oh that's fine. So what's your plan for the days until you're safe again?"

"Wait a second" Dakota looked around the forest slowly, "Don't make a sound"

There was a long silence and Dakota took her staff and struck the ground with it, creating a sound-proof shield around them all.

"Okay, I'll be staying in Potionology class while I'm at Alfea, and a couple hours later, I'll go to Cloud Tower to even out my balance, then lastly, I'll go to Red Fountain to train with my dad and a couple of his classes"

Dakota lifted the staff and the shield disappeared, which confused the Winx.

"Dakota, that was very smart. I'm surprised that I didn't catch that" Ms. Faragonda pat her shoulder and the two continued their way to Alfea, leaving the Winx in a daze.

"Wait up!" Stella said as Dakota turned around and the Winx ran up to them again, "What did you do back there?"

"Oh, I created a sound-proof shield to protect us, and to make sure my predators wouldn't hear what I would be doing throughout the day"

They looked at each other in disbelief, "Even though you're a year younger than us, you seem to think ahead" said Tecna.

"That and I'm more powerful, but let's not talk about the topic on the balance until we get to Alfea, okay?"

They continued to walk as the wizards were watching them...

* * *

Valtor and Ogron both slammed their fists on a flat rock, apparently because they don't like being outsmarted by an 18 year old fairy.

"How come I didn't remember this!" Valtor yelled as he flipped through one of the spell books that he had stolen from Isis. He stopped on one of the pages and read through it, he then picked it up and gave it to the others, who also read through it.

"It seems that Dakota has a few tricks up her sleeve. That staff for one, and her knowledge. She's not an average fairy" Ogron said as he put down the book and went back to the image, "When do we strike first?"

Valtor smirked, "Give it a day. They'll never see it coming...well, maybe Dakota will, but that's not the point"

"Of course not"

* * *

Stella decided to let Dakota sleep in her dorm, seeing that she specifically ordered her dorm to be all to herself. Dakota unpacked her clothes and belongings with a snap of her hand and they all went into their separate drawers and hangers. Stella stared at her in amazement.

"You designed _all_ of this!" Stella picked up a rhinestone decorated cowgirl boot from Dakota's closet.

"Uh, yep. Is it that hard to believe?"

"No, because, well, look at you! You're the second most fashionable person I know now!"

"Who's the most?"

"Me, of course"

Dakota raised her eyebrow, "Yeah, of course. Its time to go, I have to answer Alfea questions"

They both headed downstairs, where everyone was already settling into the auditorium. The Winx had all chosen 7 seats in the front row and they save the last one for Stella, who gladly sat there. Dakota headed up to the front, where the Alfea teachers and Ms. Faragonda were waiting for her. She stood in between Ms. Faragonda and Griselda, who quieted the fairies once they were seated. They all remained silent as they started to speak.

"As Codatorta had announced this afternoon, this is Dakota, his daughter" said Griselda.

Dakota nodded as Ms. Faragonda continued, "Indeed. She is to sleep, eat, and learn here at Alfea, but she will visit Cloud Tower and Red Fountain everyday as well. The main and only class she will be attending is Potionology"

Amaryl raised her hand, "Two questions," Ms. Faragonda nodded, "One, why is she only attending Potionology?"

"Dakota?"

Dakota smiled at her, "Its because Potionology is one of my least needed classes, but I will one day need to use it. Just like everyone else."

"That's reasonable. Lastly, are you _good_ at Potionology?"

Dakota nodded, "Its one of my best subjects"

Amaryl gasped, "Professor Palladium, can she be my partner for every experiment?"

Professor Palladium rolled his eyes as Dakota silently laughed, "No Amaryl. Besides, you don't choose your partners, I do."

Amaryl pouted as another fairy raised her hand, "Yes Katy?"

Katy put her hand down, "Well, can you explain a little more about these wizards of the black circle? I still don't know who they are"

The Winx all shuddered, "Um, Ms. Faragonda, may I answer that one, please?" Roxy asked.

"Of course, Roxy. You and the Winx are the only ones who have faced the wizards, well, beside the Earth Fairies"

Roxy stood up and cleared her throat, "They are four men who wear all black and have a source of power called the black circle"

"Well, that's simple enough"

"I didn't finish also are so powerful that an Enchantix fairy can't beat them, you have to at least have your Believix"

"A little more challenging, but a challenge is always-"

"And they don't give a care whether you live or die in battle with them" Roxy sat back down as Katy held her throat.

Dakota shrugged, "That's pretty much it about them. Besides that you don't wanna to make them angry"

"Okay class, now more question. Dakota needs her rest" Professor Wizgiz said warningly.

Professor DuFour picked someone who was in the back, "Priscilla"

"Um, two questions?" Priscilla said cautiously.

"Now what did I say, Priscilla" Professor Wizgiz crossed his arms, but Dakota smiled at Priscilla.

"No problem. What's one more question?" Dakota and Priscilla looked hopeful at Professor Wizgiz.

He exhaled with annoyance, "Fine, but your father can't hurt me if he finds out"

"Yay! This has nothing to do with anything, but me and my friends just wanna know. How flexible are you?"

Dakota laughed, "You're right. That has nothing to do with anything, but I would be happy to show you"

Priscilla nodded her head happily as Dakota looked at Ms. Faragonda for permission. Ms. Faragonda smiled and gestured with her hand to get off the stage first. Dakota smiled back as she put her medium length hair into a ponytail and cartwheeled off of the stage. First, she had did a back walkover, earning her gasps and applause from the fairies. Next, she did a round off into a back flip. Lastly, she decided to do a back hand spring, which brought a bunch of applause as she got back on stage.

"That was _amazing!_"

"Thanks, I've had a lot of practice as a kid. Now on to your last question" Dakota started to take her hair out of the ponytail as Priscilla asked her last question.

"What's it like being the most important fairy in all of creation?"

Dakota froze and all of the teachers looked at her worriedly as she gathered her words, "Let's just say that...there's a surprise at every corner. You never know when something good or bad will happen to you"

"Oh, okay."

"Okay girls, its getting late, now off to bed" Ms. Faragonda dismissed them as the Winx went back to their dorms. Stella stopped at the door frame.

"You coming, roomie?"

Dakota smiled at her, "Gimme a few minutes and I'll be right up"

* * *

Valtor was smirking at the images he saw, "It seems that no fairy at Alfea knows you. The perfect way for you to get in for a few minutes before the Winx see you"

Gantlos grunted, "And what would you be doing?"

Valtor turned to him, "Doing what I usually do, not be seen and go _straight_ for my target"

* * *

**Hi everyone, I know by how many reviews I have that people think that other people aren't reading the story. You are wrong because the day I posted it was yesterday and around 30 people have already read this story. Let's keep it up, so please tell me what you think of Dakota and what you think will happen to her.**

**bye,**

**winxluv**


	3. A Regular Day

_Dakota's POV_

The teachers and I all went to Ms. Faragonda's office to discuss the matter at hand. I sat down in one of the chairs as Ms. Faragonda started to speak.

"We are all very sorry. We didn't know that Priscilla would ask such a question"

"It is all right. She, and nobody else knows besides all of us"

"That's right, Dakota," said Professor Wizgiz, "All of us, your father, and the wizards are the only ones that know."

"The only reason that you all know is because you all are like my family" I smiled, "I still remember everything that happened that day to today"

I could sense that they all were too, "We do as well, Dakota. It'll be 10 years in a few days" said Professor Palladium, and I could sense his sadness. He was always like a brother to me, ans so was Professor Avalon. Professor Wizgiz is more like an uncle to me.

"I know" I closed my eyes, to keep tears from falling. I know that he was talking about my mother, because she had died 10 years ago when I was 8.

"But you do know that you'll have to tell them everything soon, Dakota" said Professor DuFour. She was like another mother to me, so the pain was bearable, and I nodded to let her know I understood. Griselda was more an aunt because she never had fun, doesn't act motherly, yet she cares about me, like the rest of them.

"Before I forget to tell you, can you first make the shield again. This is for your ears only"

I nodded and took off my silver ring, which formed into my staff. I softly struck the ground with its end, creating the force field around the room. I spun it so I wouldn't have to hold it in place.

"Okay, now as for your schedule. The Winx will escort you outside after your class, where they will meet 7 of the most powerful witches at Cloud Tower"

Griselda continued for her, "Then they will take you to Cloud Tower to keep your balance in order"

Professor DuFour continued from there, "After a couple hours of getting used to your surroundings, troop 12 from Red Fountain will escort you to Red Fountain"

"Oh, I know them. They help the Winx on their missions."

"That's correct," said Professor Avalon, "and after a few hours of training with your father, Palladium and I will escort you back to Alfea"

Ms. Faragonda raised her hand, signaling me to lower the shield. I looked at the staff and held out my arm, and it flew up and landed in my hand, closing the shield. I formed it back into my silver ring and put it on my middle finger once again.

"You're getting better," said Professor Wizgiz, "And I thought that was impossible"

I smiled, "Nothing's impossible"

"Exactly right, Dakota. Now remember everything that we told you" said Ms. Faragonda. She was also like a mother to me, so I had more than one family. My dad was the last blood family member I have...that I know of.

"I will. I have to go back to my dorm now. I have a feeling Stella is going through my clothes. Good night everyone."

"Good night, Dakota." Ms. Faragonda smiled at me. I quickly curtsied and walked out of the door and to my dorm. I could still faintly hear them talking about me.

"Such a sweet girl" said Professor DuFour, "She has such good manners"

"Its so sad that she has to hold such a heavy burden though," I heard Professor Avalon say.

"Now Avalon. You know she's not alone in this battle." Ms. Faragonda said calmly, "She will be able to return to Olympus when she is safe again"

Olympus, my home planet. When I'm safe again, I'll have to go back and protect my planet. Every year I stay at my home planet for a few months, then I live in the Tree of Life. It may sound weird, but its not that hard to live with a tree.

"We just have to focus on protecting her for now. Valtor and the wizards are not forces to reckon with" said Professor Palladium.

"Dakota just has to be under supervision, 24/7" said Griselda. Sometimes I hate her, but I know she does this for my best.

"She would never agree with it, so we must stay hidden" said Professor Wizgiz.

"Agreed, now you may all return to your rooms. We will continue this conversation"

I could hear them coming back out, so I ran as fast as I could back to the dorm, where Stella was already asleep. I quickly showered and changed into a nightgown and went to bed.

* * *

Valtor was now getting frustrated with Dakota.

"That girl is going to make me mad. That stupid staff"

"Don't worry. We'll..._introduce_ ourselves to her tomorrow," Gantlos smirked.

"Precisely. Now who _exactly_ was the first fairy who saw you when you first went to Alfea"

"She was a sugar plum fairy, I guess. Don't know her name"

Valtor looked back at the image of the sleeping girls, "Flora"

"I thought she was a nature fairy" Anagan asked. Valtor rolled his eyes.

"She is. Make sure she doesn't see you first again, got it?"

"Last time I checked, you weren't the boss. Might I remind you who helped you out of Obsidian" Duman asked.

"Might I remind _you_ who helped _them_ out of Omega"

They all paused, "Touche"

* * *

_Next Day_

_Dakota's POV_

I woke up in my bed and Stella was at my closet holding a top, pair of shorts, and Converse.

"Get up, get up. Or else we'll be late for breakfast and miss all of the good stuff" I quickly got up when I noticed a note next to my bed. I picked it up and unfolded the paper.

_Dakota,_

_You left your ring in the hallway._

_Please come and retrieve it from my office._

_~Headmistress Faragonda_

I looked down at my right hand and realized that the ring had fallen off of my finger when I was running down the hallway. I snapped my fingers and the clothes Stella picked out for me replaced my nightgown. I combed my hair out and left a bang out on my right side and finished it with a jeweled hair clip.

"Wow, you look great" Stella admired my clothes. I admit she picked out a good ensemble for me.

"Thanks, you look good too. Now let's go get some breakfast"

We went downstairs to be greeted by the rest of the Winx. We all went to the cafeteria for breakfast, and when we finished, I excused myself to Ms. Faragonda's office.

"Knock, knock" I said as I opened the door. Ms. Faragonda was looking out the window, and when she heard me, she turned around and smiled.

"Hello, Dakota. It appears you left something here" She pointed to the ring on the floor in the hallway, "I would've brought it to you, but remember, I can't touch it"

I smiled meekly, "Yeah" I reached down to pick up the ring.

"How did it get off your finger in the first place?"

"Oh, it must've, um, fallen off?" I was hoping she would by it, but I hate lying to her.

"We both know what you were doing Dakota"

"Sorry, Ms. F, but how did you find out"

Ms. Faragonda laughed, "Avalon saw you running down the hallway and told me"

"Dangit" I mumbled to myself. "Well, thank you for taking care of it"

"Your welcome Dakota. Now get to class before you're late"

"Yes ma'am"

I quickly ran to Professor Palladium's class, and I got into my seat next to Stella right before the bell rang.

"Where were you?"

"Faragonda's office. Forgot my ring" I held up my hand, showing the ring in its usual place.

"Okay, and remember that we're taking you outside to meet the witches"

"Got it"

After about three classes of Potionology, I went up to Palladium. As a "member of the family" I wasn't required to call him "professor".

"Palladium?"

He turned around and smiled at me, "Hello Dakota. You did excellent in class today"

"Thank you, but that's not why I'm here"

He looked at me seriously, "Can you sense them?"

I nodded my head, "I _know_ that they're coming _today_"

He looked off in a distance and looked back at me, "I guess the witches and Specialists should prepare themselves"

"What about you and Avalon?"

He smiled, "Don't worry about us"

I smiled back and nodded my head and left for Cloud Tower with the witches.

"Take care of her, Lucy!" Musa shouted.

"I will, I will"

Lucy, the other six witches, and I went to Cloud Tower. I roamed around the school for a couple of hours when Ms. Griffin called me to her office. I came to the door and knocked.

"Come in"

I walked in and sat down in the chair in front of her desk.

"Its good to see you again, Dakota"

"Its good to see you too, Ms. Griffin. Is something wrong?"

"No, not at all. I was telling you that the Specialists are here to take you to Red Fountain"

I stood up and looked out the window to see 8 Specialists outside, and Timmy (I think) was waving at me, so I waved back.

"Thank you. I'll be back tomorrow"

"Alright, be careful"

"I will"

I quickly ran downstairs and outside, where I was greeted by the Specialists.

"Hi you guys" I said as I ran out the door and stopped in front of them.

"Hey, Dakota. This is Jared. Jared. This is Dakota" Timmy moved out of the way to show me another Specialist. He had blue hair and soft eyes as he looked at me.

"Hi. You must be Dakota"

Riven rolled his eyes and I laughed, "Jared, Timmy already introduced you two"

Jared scratched his head and smiled, "Sorry, I guess I'm a little nervous"

I looked him in the eyes, "Ih, I mean...um, well I"

"Uh, maybe we should get _going_" Brandon said.

"Uh, sure, I guess" I said as I started walking ahead of them all, towards Red Fountain. I could hear them talking to Jared in the background. I admit, he's kind of cute, oh what am I thinking, he probably has a girlfriend.

"You should totally ask her out, Jared" Brandon said quietly, but I could still hear him. I smiled and blushed as I tucked a piece of hair behind my ear.

"But we just met." Dangit, I was sure he was gonna do it.

"You like her don't you?" Riven asked.

"I admit, she's kinda cute, but she'll never go out with me." I was about to turn around and say "yes I would", but then it hit me that they thought that I couldn't hear them.

I slightly gasped and turned around to look at Jared. He was looking at me and he quickly looked to the ground as we all kept walking.

"You didn't hear that"

I raised my hands and kept walking, and after a few minutes of eavesdropping. They started talking really loudly.

"OH MAN. IT MUST BE REALLY DEPRESSING AFTER YOUR BREAK-UP WITH ALICE, JARED" Sky said loudly.

I slightly turned my head to see them, but I have a feeling that they're doing this on purpose.

"YEAH. YOU TWO WERE SO CUTE TOGETHER" Brandon raised his voice a little louder. I sensed something though, so I stopped walking. I was trying to hear something, but the guys just kept getting louder. I could feel my eye start twitching.

"Would you guys do me a favor?" I asked sweetly as I turned around.

"Sure Dakota. What do you need us to do?" Timmy asked.

"Could you guys SHUT UP!" They all jumped back, "I'm trying to listen and you guys are just putting me in more danger. If I can't hear, I can't protect, got it?"

"Got it" Riven said as he rubbed his ear, "I think I just went deaf"

I cracked my knuckles, "Do I have to remind you who's daughter I am"

Before he could respond, I grabbed my scepter and aimed it at the trees, "Nabu, you know what to do."

Nabu nodded and held his staff in the same area as me and we closed our eyes and waited. We both gasped as we looked at each other, "Run."

We immediately started running as fast as we could, and by the time we got to Red Fountain, the entire school was doing battle. I could clearly hear one unknown voice.

"I will ask you one more time. Where. is. she?"

The man looked up and my eyes met two golden irises...


	4. Matlin

_Dakota's POV_

I was staring at a man who, when he was staring at me, started smirking, "Hello, Princess Dakota"

"Dakota, run!" I turned to see my dad holding his sword aimed at the man. I turned to run, but when I got to the entrance, another man with brown hair came out of no where and stood there and smirked at me as well.

"Y-You can run as fast as I can. B-But no one can run as fast as I can"

"I believe _I_ can. Or maybe I can run faster"

No matter how scared I was, I was getting angry, "What did you just say!" I could tell by my sudden outburst that he was getting scared. I could feel the presence of someone else, so I spun around to see a blonde guy in a hat, who was _also_ smirking at me.

"You all are just _begging_ me to wipe those smirks off your ugly faces," I said through gritted teeth. Suddenly, before I could react, my instincts were to call my "family". I started laughing smugly as I could hear my father in the background.

"Dakota, what are you doing! Get out of here!"

"NO!" I glared at my father and he looked surprised, so did the =wizards who were there, and so did the other Specialists.

"You _never_ let me fight my own battles. I admit that I'll need _some_ help, but you _never_ let me fight, just _run away._ Well I'm not running. So you can deal with it"

I saw what looked like regret in my father's face, but it changed to a look that was more of..._respect_.

"All right, Dakota"

"So you'll let me fight"

"Of course I will"

I smirked at the wizard with the hat, "This is gonna be fun"

I pulled off my ring and waved it in the air. I threw it in the air as it transformed into my scepter, so I grabbed it and held it to the sky, "BELIEVIX!"

I could feel every inch of me be covered in my fairy form: my hair twisting into its tight braid, my sandals replacing my Converse, my make-up appearing, the strings going from my shirt to my shorts, everything.

I aimed my scepter at the one with the hat and caused him to fly backwards with a grunt, and I could feel the one with the gold eyes watching me, but not responding to any of my attacks. I felt my scepter jerk out of my hand, so I turned to look at a wolf which had my scepter in its mouth. It transformed into a man who was now_ holding _my scepter and I started to smirk.

"Oh, so you're a person. That's good to know." He smirked as well.

"Why so good?"

I stretched out my arm and the scepter flew back into my grasp and he looked at me in anger and astonishment, "Because you're stupid enough to think that you can hold the scepter of Olympia"

"The scepter of Olympia? You must be its owner" a voice behind me said, but as I turned around, something hit me in my back, causing me to go forward in a sudden jerk.

"DAKOTA!" I turned to see my father crouching over me.

"I'm all right, dad. Just gotta call some back-up." He nodded as he helped me stand up and I grabbed my scepter, "But I have to know, how many wizards are here?"

"Five"

I shuddered, "Oh joy"

I held my scepter up and the black gem shone brightly, "WINX, COME TO MY SIDE!"

About a moment later, I could see seven figures start to appear, "Hey girls. I need a little help with some of your old friends"

Roxy looked around and screamed causing me to freak out from the high pitched noise and I could hear Riven yelling over the scream.

"Roxy! The royal family of Olympia can't stand the sound of high pitched noises!"

Roxy stopped screaming in order to face him, "Sorry, I just got surprised by the random guy here who I don't know"

Stella laughed nervously, "Well, uh, _that's_ Valtor"

I slightly laughed, "Why does he look like someone from the Victorian Era?"

The Winx all shrugged their shoulders as if to say "We don't know"

"Hello, Roxy. Long time, no see" said the man with the red hair.

"Ogron, last I saw you, you were trapped in Omega"

"Ogron" growled at her, "I didn't forget who trapped me in there"

I aimed my scepter at Ogron and lifted him into the air as he struggled, "Tell me who you all are or I swear I'll kill you where you float"

I started to tighten my grip on the magic cage, suffocating him, "All right! Fine! Just stop." He was pleading,so of course I let him down.

"Who are you?" I asked angrily. The one who must be Valtor spoke up instead.

"I am Valtor and these are the wizards of the black circle"

"I kinda figured that out"

"Well, I don't want to upset you, Princess"

I clenched my fists and glared at him, "DON'T call me that again"

"Well I don't want to upset royalty. That would make my demise"

"You got that right. Winx," I turned to the girls, "I no longer need your assistance. It was just a false alarm"

"But Dakota-" Bloom was about to start talking, but I cut her off with a wave of my hand.

"Take your leave now"

Bloom was about to speak up again when Tecna put a hand on her shoulder and looked at her. Bloom nodded and they all disappeared as I turned back to Valtor.

"I want names, now" I demanded.

The Valtor guy bowed to me and I glared at Riven, "If you say _anything_ to the Winx, I will annihilate you"

Riven put his hands up, "Got it. No telly my girlyfriend."

I rolled my eyes as I snapped my fingers and the wizards and I transported to Black Mud Swamp. I glared at them as I kept my scepter aimed at them.

"Now who are you five?"

"Of course, Princess," Valtor said, "As you know, my name is Valtor, this is Orgon, Gantlos, Duman, and Anagan."

I bowed my head and quickly raised it, "Not to be rude Valtor, but"

He looked at me as if to say_ What?_

"What do you want?"

"We want answers."

I looked at him confusedly, "What do you mean answers?"

"You are not the entire balance."

I looked at them all angrily, "What do you mean I'm not the balance? I've been the balance for as long as I've been 8. What do you mean I'm not the balance?"

Valtor smirked at me, and I really wanted to hurt him, "You're half of the balance, Princess. The good half to be exact, there is another"

"There is _no other!_"

"Yes, Dakota," said Ogron, "There is. She's the key to discovering your missing past."

I paused for a moment as I gasped, "My past? You mean my mother?"

"And other things. We just need _your_ help."

"...If I help you. Will you leave the dimension?"

The wizards all looked at each other and smirked once again, "Deal."

I nodded as I once again snapped my fingers and I reappeared at Red Fountain. I de-transformed and I saw my father, Ms. Faragonda, Avalon, and Palladium.

"Is it true?"

They turned to look at me, but said nothing.

"Tell me!" I had tears in my eyes as they led me out of Red Fountain and towards Alfea. I could feel the wizards watching, but I didn't care. After a while, I spoke up.

"Valtor said that I'm not the whole balance dad. Is that true?"

Ms. Faragonda lokoed at me with sad eyes, as well as dad, "Yes, Dakota. It is true."

"Why wouldn't you tell me then?" I started crying and everyone stopped to comfort me.

"We didn't think she would ever come back, so we decided not to tell you what happened" said Ms. Faragonda.

"Is she really evil though?"

"Well," said Dad, "she's not _evil_ evil, but she isn't good either."

"So you're saying she's good, but she has an evil side too?"

"Only when she's mad," said Avalon.

"How does this have anything to do with me?"

"Let's get back to Alfea, and we will explain _everything_"

_At Alfea..._

When we got to Ms. Faragonda's office, the Winx and troop 12 were already waiting for us. I could feel Jared looking worriedly at me, but I kept looking for my answers.

"Now tell me."

"Alright, Dakota. She was indeed the balance before you."

"But how can she unlock my past?" I knew in order to help the wizards, I had to get them to say the answers out loud so they could hear. Man, I hope this doesn't backfire.

"She was with your mother when she was killed" Dad admitted.

"...Why was she with mom?"

The adults all looked at each other in sorrow, but Dad spoke up after a moment.

"Because your mother was her mother too."

It took a while to process this new information, but I had the nerve to ask, "This girls is...my sister? But you said I had no other family."

"Well, she's your sister and she was the balance before you were. Her name is Matlin, like Musa's mother," Musa hung her head at the thought of her mother, so Riven put his arms around her to comfort her.

"Okay, so Matlin is my sister? She's going to tell me what happened," I said in the demanding tone I never meant to use.

They all nodded, but my dad shook his head, "Well, Matlin isn't just going to tell you what happened. And i is very dangerous going to talk to her."

"Why?"

They all got silent at my question, "Because she's in the Vampiric Dimension"

* * *

**Vampire Time!**


	5. Good and Evil

_Dakota's POV_

This was a lot to take in, but suddenly I was remembering some things that I'd never remembered, making images in my head.

_Dakota, where are you? I turned around to see a girl a little taller than me wearing a skin tight black suit._

_Matlin, where are you and mommy going?_

_We will return Dakota, don't worry. The girl smiled at me, her baby blue eyes pouring into my soul._

_But, where are you going?_

_Don't forget me, but t__ake this if I don't come back._

_But why, Matty?_

_I'm sorry Dakota, but I have to go now._

_Matlin?_

_... There was no answer. She just disappeared from my view._

_I looked down at a silver ring that was just put in the palm of my hand. I looked back up and saw the world around me turning into black and dark red. I heard a faint scream in the distance._

_Matlin!_

I suddenly gasped, startling everyone in the room.

"I remember talking to her...and being s-scared."

Dad hugged me for a sign of comfort, "When she disappeared from the memory, I remember being scared. And she gave me something," I looked down at my right hand, where the exact ring Matlin gave me was on my middle finger.

"I really need to find her. She is the answers to all of my questions."

The adults in the room all looked at each other and then looked at me, "Please" I pleaded with tears in my eyes. I heard Palladium exhale.

"Alright Dakota."

Ms. Faragonda opened a book on her desk and a hologram of a girl appeared. She was a few years younger than me and she was smiling, something about that girl seemed familiar.

"That's the girl that was talking to me in the memory." I reached out to the hologram and it reached its hand out and touched mine, "This is my sister when she left."

Matlin had long black hair that she wore in a ponytail that hung over her shoulder. She looked about 13 years old to me and she came up to my chest in height. She had tanned skin like me and it looks like we had matching birthmarks on our hands. On my left hand, I had a birthmark shaped like a sun, but Matlin had a birthmark on her right hand that was shaped like a crescent moon.

"This is indeed Matlin. She was 11 at the time, Dakota. This is a hologram showing what happened when she left Olympia," Avalon said as the hologram started moving around, she looked as if she was looking for someone.

Suddenly, another hologram of a girl appeared on the other end of the room. The girl looked like...me? Yeah, that was me when I was 8. I was laying down and looking up at the ceiling.

"Yes, I remember this day," I said as I sat down in the chair again and the holograms started speaking.

"_Dakota, where are you?_"

The hologram of me stood up and ran over to Matlin.

"_Matlin, where are you and mommy going?_"

"_We will return Dakota, don't worry._"

Matlin smiled at my hologram as I saw another woman and dad appear on opposite sides of the room. The woman must've been our mother, she was a few feet behind Matlin, but dad was behind me. Mom was wearing the exact same suit as Matlin was in.

"_But where are you going?_"

"_Don't forget me, but take this if I don't come back._" Matlin placed something small in the girl's hand.

"_But why, Matty?_"

"_I'm sorry Dakota, but I have to go now._"

Matlin put on black gloves and started to run away.

"_Matlin_?"

The hologram of Matlin and our mom disappeared from view. The hologram looked down at a silver ring that was just put in the palm of her hand. She looked back up and looked around her with tears in her eyes.

"_Matlin!_" My hologram turned around as my dad put a hand on her shoulder.

"_You know she has to do this, Dakota_"

"_Why daddy? I don't want them to go._"

"_No one does._" Suddenly the holograms disappeared again and just left everyone in the room.

"So Matlin and her mother had to leave Olympia? Why?" Stella had asked as she walked up behind me.

"They had to do spy work for Olympia. The Vampiric Dimension had resources that could've harmed us," said Riven.

Musa looked at him, "How do you know that Riven?"

Riven sighed, "Because my home planet is Olympia. That's how I knew the royal family can't stand high pitched noises."

"Yes," I answered as I looked at Musa, "I remember now. My mother was next in line for the throne when she met my dad. They fell in love, got married and technically, Matlin and I are the princesses. Riven and I were best friends before he had to leave for Red Fountain, so I forgot him until I got here."

"That's cool. So Matlin was the balance before her?" Musa said looking at Codatorta.

"Yes. Matlin was to camouflage into the Vampiric Dimension as one of the vampirics, or vampire children."

"Her mother was to be camouflaging as one of the royal palace's servants," said Avalon.

"But how did mom die?" I was getting sadder and sadder as my father sighed sadly.

"We don't know. Matlin is the only other person there when she was killed. She sent me a message saying that she was trapped and your mother was killed that night. I said I would come back for her, but I could never find a way to get around security." Dad put his hand on the desk, as if to keep himself from falling.

"So you left her there..._alone_."

"Dakota, I would've went to get her, but you had no one there for you in your time of need. Matlin had been there too long, I figured she had been killed as well."

I was about to yell at him when a portal started to form in the center of the room, and when it disappeared, it revealed a pale girl. She looked my age, but her eyes were golden. She had red hair, like Bloom except it was darker. When she saw my father, she smiled, revealing two pairs of sharp fangs.

"Selene, what happened to you?" Ms. Faragonda said as she stood up and took the girl's face in her hands and examined her.

Selene smiled sadly, "One of the royal guard's sons fell for me and kinda, bit me. I bring a message from her Highness."

"The queen?" Sky asked as he held Bloom from behind.

Selene shook her head, "Matlin."

"How do you know my sister?" I stood up and faced her.

She furrowed her brow, "She's my best friend. I knew her when she was on Olympia."

"Indeed," my dad said as he put his hand on her shoulder, "she was Matlin's best friend, but when we got her message, Selene took an un-authorized mission to the Vampiric Dimension to go and save her."

"And failed. I've become her messenger ever since I found her," Selene said sadly, "which was a few hours ago. They refused to let me see her until I was wed."

"So you had to marry the guard's son?"

She nodded at me and handed a note me, "You must be Dakota. You're just like she described you. I have to go, Lane is probably looking for me."

She disappeared in a cloud of smoke and Jared came up next to me, but apparently, he didn't notice how close he was.

"What does it say, Dakota?" I turned to him and _then_ he noticed how close and backed away. Before I could reading it, Ms. Faragonda took the note and put it on top of the page that showed a hologram.

"Would you like to see what she looks like, Dakota?"

I looked at her confusedly, "You can do that?"

She nodded, "If I do it correctly, a hologram of Matlin should appear and read the note for you." Her hands started to glow as she rested them on the note, and a second later, a woman appeared as a hologram. For a hologram, I could see her clearly from the color of her hair to the color of her shoes. She was about 5 inches taller than me, she still had her jet black hair, but it was down and curly. Her tan skin was now pale and her pretty blue eyes were now as black as her hair

"This is what she looks like _now_?"

She nodded as Matlin's hologram started to speak:

* * *

_Dear dad,_

_I'm sorry I haven't wrote in so long, but its very hard to now that I'm next in line to be queen._

_Cross still doesn't know I write to you, so please, no matter what, do not come to the Vampiric Dimension._

_It will be possible that Cross would think you're trying to take me away and have you killed instantly._

_Please, if she remembers me, tell Dakota that I'm sorry, but I'm not coming back._

_~Matlin_

* * *

It broke my heart to hear that, but she should remember that I'm the most stubborn person in the world.

"I'm going. Either you're with me or against me," I looked at everyone in the room, but none of them said a thing.

"Fine, but you should know that if _you_ don't go with me, the wizards _will_."

They all looked at each other, but still remained silent, "Now I see where you stand...against me."

Before anyone could say anything, I snapped my fingers and appeared outside of Alfea, and it was dark out, but I didn't care.

"Valtor!" I yelled to the trees. I saw five dark figures appear from the shadows.

"You called?" He sounded sarcastic, but they were the only ones who would help me. I looked up at Ms. Faragonda's office window to see everyone in the room looking down at me with disbelief. I closed my eyes and looked back at the wizards.

"Vampiric Dimension."

He smirked, "It was a pleasure doing business with you." He made a portal, apparently to the Vampiric Dimension and the wizards of the black circle entered it, but Valtor waited back with me.

"Ladies first." I was about to step into the portal when I heard someone running up behind me so I turned around.

"Dakota, what are you doing!" Musa yelled as she and the Winx ran up to us, but they were a few yards away.

I looked at them seriously, "If you won't help me find my sister, then _they_ will."

"But they'll double-cross you!" Roxy said, "The wizards have done it before, and I'm sure they're not afraid to do it again."

I looked at them, then to where the wizards were, then back at them, "The balance can't be tricked or controlled, just influenced. This is my problem, so stay out of this."

I turned around and walked back to the portal, but the girls didn't give up, "When they're done with you, they'll just take your sister and kick you to the curb," Stella said with worry in her voice.

I scoffed, "I'm sure they're not stupid enough to throw away half of the balance, nonetheless both halves." I continued to walk towards the portal.

"Please Dakota," Flora pleaded me as troop 12, dad, and the teachers came outside.

I could see Jared looking at me with pleading eyes and holding the note from Matlin. I held out my hand and it started to glow. The note flew out of his hands and he looked at me, astonished. I grabbed it from the air as I stood at the entrance of the portal.

"I'm sorry girls, but I need my sister more than I need you." I walked through the portal, and I could hear it close behind Valtor. When we were through it, we could see the other wizards waiting for us in disguise spells. They all looked younger and paler, they had no scent and when they opened their mouths to speak, they had fangs.

"Took you long enough," Duman said as he walked over to me.

I closed my eyes as he rested his hand on my forehead. I could feel my clothing and shoes changing into something else. When I opened my eyes I looked at my skin, and it was as pale as a ghost. I walked to a stream and I looked at my reflection to see that my eyes were now red and my hair had black streaks in it. I opened my mouth to see a set of fangs. I noticed my clothes changed into a comfortable red dress with black lace and my shoes changed into a comfortable pair of red flats.

"Are you done looking at yourself?" Gantlos said as I stood up to see the wizards all looking at me. I saw that Valtor was under the same spell because he looked younger and paler like the rest of them did. People could easily mistake us for a family.

"Are _you _done talking?" I took the note out of the dress' pocket and unfolded it. Matlin's hologram appeared again, but it was next to me. She was wearing short black lace gloves on her hands, hiding the birth mark. She was also wearing a black dress that nearly touched the floor, but showed her feet.

"This is Matlin," I instructed as I turned to the wizards, "her hologram mirrors me. If I do anything," I turned to the Matlin hologram, "she copies."

I rubbed my hands and black lace gloves appeared on my hands, identical to Matlin's. I put my hands up and the hologram complied. I took off both gloves and she did the same. I beckoned the wizards to look, so they walked over to me and looked at our hands.

"Matching birthmarks," said Ogron. "Must've come from the whole sisterly blood line." I nodded as I waved my hand across the hologram, making it disappear.

"The sun and moon, beginning and end, light and dark," said Anagan. I looked at him.

"Good and evil"

* * *

**I finally have them arrive in the Vampiric dimension. Dakota has become independent and abandoned the others, and the wizards wants both halves of the balance. What happens if Matlin doesn't recognize her?**

**winxluv**


	6. Family Bonding

_Dakota's POV_

After showing the wizards our matching birthmarks, we headed down the valley to the city.

"For vampires, they live great," I said in awe as I looked around the city. They had buildings and markets everywhere, and the sun was red, to apparently keep from being singed by the sun.

"Keep your eyes on the prize, Dakota," said Valtor, "eyes on the prize."

"As a disguise, you all have to pretend to be my brothers, okay?"

They rolled their eyes at me, but nodded.

"Don't worry, it'll work out. I don't back out of deals."

"Alright Dakota," said Gantlos, "we're gonna trust you on this, just don't mislead us."

I nodded as I saw a group of teenage vampiric boys looking at me. One of them winked, one of them licked his lips, and the last one bared his fangs as he smiled.

"Oh no," I whispered to the wizards as the boys came over to us.

"Sup," one of them said as they stopped in front of us.

"Hi," I tried to walk past him, but he put his hand in front of me. Gantlos was about to do something, but I held up my hand.

"I've got this Gantlos," I whispered slyly as I smiled, baring my fangs.

"You know, you're pretty cute," said the other one.

"Oh really?" I started twirling a lock of my hair around my finger.

"Yeah, and I _have_ been looking for a cute mate." The last one put his arm around my waist, and I smiled. What he didn't see coming is when I grabbed his hand and twisted it behind his back.

"Then go look for one." I pushed him forward and as he got up, I grabbed his collar.

"If any of you even _think_ about laying a _finger_ on any part of me, I won't hesitate to hurt you." I let go of him and we continued walking, but I could hear him in the distance.

"I love a girl who takes charge, don't you Sam?" He smirked at me and I scoffed at him as his friends continued.

"Definetly. She is _smoking_ hot. What's your opinion on her, Adam?"

"She would be worth getting hurt for, wouldn't she Danny?"

"Like I said, I love a girl that takes charge." He came back up to us and grabbed my waist, pulling me back. He smelled my neck, and I mouthed words to Duman.

_Please tell me this spell comes with no scent._

He rolled his eyes at me. _Duh._

I reached up and caressed his hair down to his collar and pulled him towards an alley. I could sense him doing a thumbs-up sign to his friends as I pulled him into the dark alley.

_Normal POV_

Dakota had pulled one of the vampiric boys into an alley.

"What does she think she's doing?" Anagan asked as Dakota went out of sight.

"I think she's doing something to our friend. Who are you five?" Sam said as he approached the wizards.

"We're her," Ogron paused for a moment, "brothers." He bared his fangs as they all started to hear grunting as if being punched. Then they heard a sound like something that fell...something _really_ heavy. Soon, Dakota walked back out of the alley untouched, but Danny was no where in sight.

_Dakota's POV_

That's what he gets trying to touch me. I walked up to the wizards and put my hands on my hips.

"Time to go, _brothers._"

"Where's Danny, sweet cheeks?" Adam said as he looked me over. I pointed over to the alley as we walked away. We saw them walk towards the alley as we walked away.

"What'd you do back there?" Gantlos said as he walked beside me, as well as Anagan. Valtor stood in front of me while Ogron and Duman stood behind me.

"Simple. When we were out of sight, I hit him multiple times and cast a spell on him."

"What did the spell do?" Anagan asked curiously, "And why did you lure him into an alley."

"So no one could see me, and it replaced his memory of me beating him up with a memory of me making out with him. He's kind of out of it right now."

"Why did you have to do it in an alley?" Duman asked as he checked me for bite marks on my neck.

"He didn't bite me, Duman. And the question you _should_ be asking is why he followed me into the alley in the first place."

We turned a corner of one of the buildings and we continued to walk. The vampiric boys looking at me and the girls looking at the wizards.

"Well why did he follow you into the alley?"

I immediately blushed, "I'm gonna choose not to answer that. That was so easy though, flirting is a girl's number one sport." They rolled their eyes at me again, their hair falling in front of their faces.

Valtor's long strawberry blonde hair was now short and hid half of his face. Ogron's red hair was now short as well and his sole patch was gone, he looked better like that. Duman didn't have his piercings or makeup on anymore and his mohawk was now a regular hairstyle that was hiding his forehead and the top of his eyes, and his accent was smoother. Gantlos' hat was gone and his long hair was made into a hair cut that looked a little like Brandon's, and his voice was smoother than before. Anagan's ponytail was now gone and his hair was short, but went to about the middle of his neck, and his beard had disappeared.

They were all amazingly pale, but it looked normal for all six of us. While I wore a dress, they had to wear traditional shirts and pants that were all black and had red parts on different places on their shirts. No same place had red as another guy did.

"Excuse us," I said sweetly to one of the boys on the side of a shop, "where is the royal palace, and how long would it take to get there?"

He smiled, "You see that palace all the way down there?" he pointed down the street, and the palace was miles and miles away. I shuddered, but he continued, "It would probably take about two days to get there."

"Two whole days?"

"You got it gorgeous." He smiled at me, showing his fangs and his black hair falling in his face. I admit, he was pretty cute.

"What's your name?"

He looked me up and down, "Rick. And you are?"

"She is our little sister who should really start walking," Ogron said as he slightly pushed me away.

"My name's Dakota." I managed to get out before I got to far for him to hear me.

"I'll remember you for sure."

We continued to walk away, "Number one sport, huh?" Ogron said when Rick got out of ear-shot.

"Shut up." We continued to walk for a few more hours until it got dark, so we stopped at an inn.

"I get my own room."

"Are you paying for it?" Valtor said as he gave his credit card to the lady at the front counter. It looked unlimited, so I took my chances.

"_You_ are," I looked at the woman, "so we'll have _two_ rooms, miss."

"Of course."

I smiled evilly at Valtor as I took my room key from the lady, "See you in the morning. Night." I waved them off and headed up the stairs to my room for the night.

_Next day_

I woke up to see five faces looking down at me, "Ah!" They jumped back as I screamed, "_Never_ do that again."

"Got it. I don't want to go _deaf_," Gantlos said just as loudly as he rubbed his ears.

I snapped my fingers and my dress from yesterday replaced my night gown. I took a brush from my bag and brushed through my hair as I spoke.

"1 day down," I sighed, "2 to go." I brushed the last of my hair and threw away the hair that came out.

"Don't remind me. I had less trouble fighting off the Winx than getting half of a balance." I softly sighed and shook my head at him. I closed my eyes and clenched my fists. I had to talk through gritted teeth.

"Don't say their name, Valtor. Not around me. Those girls betrayed me, so I want _nothing_ to do with them, got it."

He smirked at me as I looked at him sadly, "It seems we all have something in common then."

I laughed smugly, "Apparently we do. Come on, we should be heading out then..._brothers_." I smirked at them and they smirked back as we all exited my room. We walked outside the inn and the wizards started talking to me about how they met the Winx.

"Then they blamed _me_ for _Tecna_ going into the Omega Portal," Valtor said to the other wizards. I shook my head and laughed.

"But that was completely her decision. How could they blame that on you?"

"I don't know. Apparently their motto is _its always the bad guy's fault_."

"Hm, apparently. What about you four?" I turned my head towards the wizards of the black circle, so they all looked at Ogron.

"Uh, we attacked Roxy they attacked us. We pretended to have changed in order to get to Tir Nan Og and double-crossed them." He shrugged his shoulders and I silently laughed to myself.

"I don't really blame you, or any of you," they all looked at me strangely, but I continued.

"You had goals, and the Winx were just an obstacle for you. Like me," I clenched my fists as we walked, ", but I destroy my obstacles. Just in case they come back."

"You know, you would be the _perfect_ little sister," Gantlos said as he pat my back.

I smiled at him, "And you five would make the _perfect_ brothers." We continued to walk when the castle came into view.

"Hm, I swear I thought it was farther from where we were when Rock told us how long it would take." I put my hands on my hips as the wizards stood next to me.

"I noticed something," Duman said as he pointed around the palace, from one end to the other, "the security is tighter around the west wing."

"That must be were Matlin is. In her note, she said Cross would have people kill us if he thought me or my dad would try to take her away."

Valtor looked at the palace, "That's what I call love. Having a girl's family killed if they tried to take her away."

"This is serious, Valtor. If this _Cross_ guy found out I was here, he would have my head."

"What do you know about the situation so far, Dakota?" Anagan said as he turned to me. Suddenly I started naming of things from my memory.

"Matlin got here 10 years ago, um, a guy named Cross fell in love with her, and there's something I'm missing." I started to remember things from earlier yesterday.

_I bring a message from her Highness_

_The queen?_

_No, Matlin_

_I'm next in line to be queen_

_Don't come to the Vampiric Dimension_

_Cross would think you're trying to take me away and have you killed instantly_

_Instantly_

_Instantly_

_Instantly_

"Dakota, you all right? What's wrong?" Duman looked at me worriedly as I looked at him with fear.

"Cross is the prince."


	7. The Vampire Teacher

_Dakota's_ _POV_

I layed down on the ground as I store up at the red sky.

"That explains everything. Cross is the prince, and Matlin is his princess. That's how she's next in line to be queen. Oh no."

Gantlos took my arms and roughly pulled me up, "I didn't travel this far to get scared by a vampire prince." I rolled my eyes as we approached the palace gate.

"Excuse us," I walked up to one of the guards. He wore a golden suit with a red sash crossing over his chest, and he had an insignia of a bat, interesting.

"What is it? If you're another person looking for a picture of the princess, then you're out of luck."

I laughed, "No no no. We're just looking for a visit with the prince and his lovely bride-to-be. Unless, there is a problem with that, I can always speak to them. Unless you're scared."

"Scared of what? A runt like you?" He laughed, "I'm not afraid of anything, so I'll have her Highness' messenger escort you to them immediately."

"And here I was thinking you were scared of me," I shrugged as we walked into the castle.

I silently laughed as we passed by him, "Reverse psychology. Works _every_ time."

"Great work, Dakota."

They laughed as well as we heard the guard yell for someone, "Selene! Someone's here to see the prince and princess, so bring them."

"Oh no, I know her. This can't be good."

Suddenly a cloud of smoke appeared and revealed Selene. She smiled and kissed the guard on the cheek.

"I'm in the other room, Lane. There's no need to yell." He smiled as she moved his brown hair behind his ear. He reached up, took her hand and kissed it, causing her to giggle as she turned around to face us. Her eyes widened when they met mine.

"Selene? You okay?" Lane looked at her worriedly. She looked up at him sweetly and rubbed his cheek.

"I'm fine, I just thought I saw something. Go back to your post, honey." He nodded as he quickly hugged her and went back to the door as it closed again. She smiled at him until the door closed and he was out of sight, but when he was gone, she turned back to us with a glare.

"As a professional fairy, I can see right past your disguises, wizards," She spat as she looked at the wizards, "And you, Dakota. I though you were better than this."

"But, Sel-ow!" She grabbed my hair and started pulling me, "Hair hair hair!"

"Follow me," she said as she rounded a corner. The wizards followed as she led us into a room. Apparently it was her's and Lane's room in the palace. She pushed me on the bed as she rubbed her head and walked around the room as the wizards sat down next to me.

"Dakota, you don't know _how_ much danger you're in now. Do you understand the words _do not_ come to the Vampiric Dimension!"

"Well, I thought-"

"You were not thinking, Dakota. Listen to me and listen good. Matlin does not know who you you are, remember? She hasn't seen you in _10 years_. What if Cross finds out?"

"Let me talk!" She glared at me, "Sorry for yelling, but I wanted to see my sister. Even if she doesn't remember me."

"What's their cut of the deal?" She looked at the wizards and bared her fangs and breathed in and out. She quickly grabbed a glass and chucked it at a wall, chattering it to pieces.

"Answer me."

I started stuttering because, well, she scared me, "They wanna-" Ogron covered my mouth so all that was heard than muffled words. She looked at me worriedly as Ogron continued for me.

"She was going to say that we wanna meet the prince and princess of the Vampiric Dimension. Right, Dakota?" I could see past his disguise if I wanted to, but I didn't allow myself because his vampire form was really scary when he's mad. He moved his hand.

"Yeah, that's what I was going to say, but what _would_ happen if Cross found out?"

Selene covered her mouth with her hand and sat down in a chair slowly. She mumbled some words and crouched on the ground. She slid her hand under her dresser until it went up to her shoulder.

"Got it." She slowly pulled out a jar of something red. It looked like gel so I tried to take it, but she pulled her hand away.

She shook her head, "Prince Cross is in love with Matlin, that's why he didn't kill her that day."

"..Dad told me my mom was killed, were you there?" She shook her head.

"Only Matlin and the royal family were there. When I got here, she told me everything and told me to leave and she would meet up with me outside."

The wizards moved out of the way as she sat on the bed, so I sat next to her, "Can you tell me what happened?"

She looked down at the battle, "Take this, its too late for me anyways."

"What does it do?"

"Its an antidote to vampire venom. When a vampire bites you, you take a bit of this and put it on the bite mark and, well, lemme show you."

She stood up and beckoned for Duman to stand up, and when he did, she forced him to his knees and bent his neck.

"Stay," she demanded as she opened the jar.

"Is this going to hurt?"

She smiled at him, showing her _very_ sharp fangs, "You're cute. Of course its going to hurt." She snapped her fingers and a towel appeared in her hand. She quickly bent down and bit his neck, but before he screamed, she wrapped something around his mouth, ceasing the noise.

"Don't move," she took some of the gel on her finger and rubbed it on her bite mark. I could see the bite mark disappearing, but she quickly put the towel on it.

"And that's how you use it, okay?" She took the towel off of Duman and helped him stand up, "You okay?" She was laughing as she screwed the cap back on the jar and put it in my messenger bag.

"I've been better," Duman sat in the chair that Selene was sitting in earlier.

"Anyways, that gel has a formula I put it in when I left for this dimension. It soaks into the skin and then it rises with the venom on top, so it goes to the top of your skin, causing the mark to disappear, so you have to clean it before the venom soaks back into your skin."

"So why didn't you just say that instead of biting me!" Duman rubbed the towel on his neck as Selene approached him dangerously and slowly, causing Duman to sink into the chair.

"I wanted you to _feel_ the terrible experience that Matlin and I had to endure as kids. Its not very nice to impersonate a vampire." She slowly backed out of his face and shook her head, "What it feels like to become a monster. Doesn't feel so good does it?"

I put my hand on her shoulder and she rested her hand on top of mine, "Do you really know what would happen to you if Cross knew you were Matlin's sister? Every detail?"

"Every detail." I reassured her as she sat in her window sill.

"First, he would drink your blood, then he would have some of his warriors deliver your body to the Lycan Dimension as our yearly peace offering and they would eat your meat. Lastly, the royal family of the Vampirics and the Lycanthropes would set your body to _flames_."

I looked at her in horror, "Yep, that's how in love with her he is. That's _my_ creepy definition of love, its terrible. But she loves him too, and until now, he has never needed to do that."

"Hm, that's what Valtor said the definition of love is too. Wait, you said she loves him too?"

Selene nodded as she picked up a glass shard from the floor, "It seems that she fell in love with him over the years."

"And you fell in love with Lane?"

Selene smiled as she looked out the window and at Lane who was at his post at the front of the castle, "Pretty much. After he bit me, he took care of me, and I fell for his charm I guess. You know what," she stood up and took my hands in hers, "I'll help you see her."

My face brightened, "Really? You would do that for me?"

She curtsied to me, "I have to be honest to the Princess of Olympia, don't I? Besides, it will give me a chance to teach you all how to be a vampire."

"And how will you do that?" Gantlos said as he stood up, and Selene turned to him.

"Easy. You get permission from the prince and princess to stay here in the palace and I'll take care of the rest."

"Why should we listen to you?" Anagan said as the rest of them stood up from the bed.

_Normal POV_

Selene's eyes narrowed at Anagan and she, out of no where, grabbed his shirt collar and pulled him down to face her.

"You see that broken glass cup over there?" He nodded, "If you don't do what I say, that glass cup will be _you_. Any more questions? I'm a very reasonable person." She pushed his collar back like Dakota had done to Danny.

"Put this on, Dakota." Selene rummaged through her closet and pulled out a red silk dress with black accents around the edges. Dakota gaped at it, "Gorgeous, I know, just put it on."

"In front of _them__?_" Dakota cautiously looked around at the wizards as she took the dress.

Selene rolled her eyes and snapped her fingers, "There, happy?" Dakota looked down at the dress that was now on her body. It was a perfect fit.

"Selene, this _is_ gorgeous. I can't take this."

"Are you really gonna take it off?" Selene indicating with her hand that the wizards were still in the room.

"No, but what will you wear?" Selene poked through her closet again as she pulled out another dress, but it was black and went to her knees. With a snap of her fingers, it replaced her other dress. She reached in Dakota's dress pocket and pulled out the note. She placed it in Dakota's messenger purse and fixed her hair.

"If you haven't noticed, everyone in this dimension is living great. Well, the people who stay at the palace live the best. You have to look suitable to see a prince nonetheless a princess, don't you think?"

"Okay, you both look beautiful now can we go?" Valtor said as he tapped his paw.

"This proves two things. One, guys are more impatient than girls. Two, vampires are cuter than wizards will ever be." Selene said as she flipped her dark red hair in Valtor's face as she walked out of the room.

"You got that right, Selene." Dakota said as the wizards followed them out of the room and shut the door. They walked through the corridor of the palace as Selene gave them instructions on what to do.

"Bow until they tell you to rise, okay? And don't mention who you are. You can say your name, but don't say anything about being her sister, got it..._Dakota_."

Dakota rolled her eyes as Selene opened giant doors that revealed the throne room. There were two big thrones, one slightly bigger than the other and a lot of room.

"Stay here until the arrive and when they come in you do what?"

"Bow until told to rise," Ogron said annoyingly.

"And what do you _not_ mention?"

"Anything about sibling or family," Valtor said as he crossed his arms.

"Good, I won't lose my head." Suddenly there were trumpets sounding through the halls. Selene rushed over to the smaller throne chair and stood up straight and properly.

A moment later, the giant doors opened to reveal to people in dressy, expensive clothing, and crowns...

* * *

**Thnx everyone for reading my story so far, but please review**

**winxluv**


	8. Rules & Regulations

_Dakota's_ _POV_

Selene had run over to the smaller throne, apparently for the queen, but no one mentioned a queen. The doors opened to reveal two people wearing expensive clothing. One of them was a young man and the other was a familiar looking young woman.

"Dakota," Duman whispered, getting my attention. He was gesturing for me to bow so I did, along with the wizards. I looked up, but no one noticed, and I saw the prince smile at us and then to the princess and she smiled back.

They walked up to the thrones and the princess sat down first, then the prince. Must've been some tradition for royals. The princess sat in the smaller throne, next to Selene. Selene smiled and curtsied at the princess and she nodded her head as she looked at me. I noticed that there was a look of love and respect in her eyes, she sees so innocent.

"You may rise, but do not speak." I definetly remember that voice from the note. We all stood up, but said nothing. I could see that the prince, or _Cross_, had short blonde hair that was hiding some of his forehead, so I saw how Matlin could fall for him. He wore a black suit that had a red sash, like the royal guards' uniform, but it was going the opposite way. His crown was silver with tiny black stones. Matlin's black hair was now brushed neatly behind her head with her slender silver crown on top of her head.

"Selene, please explain the sudden interruption. We were very busy," Cross said as he looked over at Selene angrily, but Matlin rested her gloved hand on his, causing him to calm down. Matlin wore the gloves that I wore, apparently Cross wanted her to hide the birthmark around the castle. We both wore black laced gloves, except hers were fingerless. Selene tensed up, and I could see fear in her soul. I guess Matlin saw it too.

"Indeed, as my close friend, you know that Cross and I have many appointments," Matlin looked at Selene softly, helping her to calm down. Matlin kept her hand rested on Cross' so he turned his over and intwined his fingers with her's.

"I'm very sorry, your Majesties, but these people said that they needed to speak with you about something," Selene looked at me, but still I didn't speak.

"Hm," Matlin looked at me, but she didn't seem to know me, "Speak." I didn't like it when people demanded me until I remembered what would happened if I didn't listen to her.

"Thank you for seeing us, Princess Matlin and Prince Cross," I said as I curtsied and they both nodded their heads briefly so I continued.

"We needed to speak with you about...uh," I looked at Valtor for help, who gladly complied.

"About finding a suitable place to live," he said as he walked behind me and put his hands on my shoulders, "you see, my brothers and I have had to go from planet to planet working so we can take care of our little sister here." Matlin looked at Valtor sweetly and smiled.

"You five really care about your sister, don't you?"

"Very much, especially after our parents died. We had to take care of D all by ourselves," Ogron said as he shook his head.

"D? What is your name little girl?" I could feel Prince Cross looking at me. I looked up at him and stared into his red eyes as I answered him.

"Dakota. My name is Dakota." I noticed Matlin tense up as I said my name. Cross looked at her worriedly.

"Are you okay, love?" She looked at him and smiled.

"I'm alright, darling." She turned to Valtor again, "Now back to your problem about a _home_," she turned to Cross with hope in her eyes.

"No, Matlin,"Cross shook his head and he lifted his hand, which was still intwined with Matlin's.

"But Cross, they need to live somewhere. When they get the money, they move into their own house, please Cross," Matlin pleaded as she squeezed his hand. She looked as if she was about to cry. I could slightly hear her whimpering as if she was a little child about to break down crying.

"Matlin, no means n- don't look at me like that." Matlin was doing the puppy-dog eyes to him. Her pale skin threatening to be tear-stained.

"Alright alright, they can stay. Don't make me regret this." Immediately, Matlin's expression changed to something more cheerful. She smiled and showed her fangs. She leaned over and hid her face in Cross' hair. When she leaned out, I saw something on her fangs that was..._red_. I was gonna guess that it was blood, but Cross is undead. I figured it was vampire venom. I really have a lot to learn.

"You won't regret this, I promise." Cross nodded as he stood up and helped Matlin stand as well and they both walked towards the wizards and I. They stopped in front of us as Cross spoke.

"As the prince of the dimension, I kindly invite you to be our guests at the palace."

"That's very kind of you, thank you Prince Cross," I curtsied, but he held his hand up.

"Thank the Princess," he showed with his hand to thank Matlin.

"Thank you, Princess Matlin," I curtsied and she smiled.

"Its alright, but you will need to learn how to act in the palace, so Selene will be teaching you six. Selene will be taking care of you and will show you all to your new rooms."

"Of course your Majesty," Ogron said as he bowed again and Matlin smiled at him, causing Cross to have a sudden surge of jealousy. He narrowed his eyes at Ogron as he led Matlin to the door. I could see Selene gesturing for us to bow again. So we did and they left, the three guards following. When they left, we stood straight as Selene came down from the steps.

"You're alive, that's a good sign," Selene said as she dusted off my shoulder, "Cross doesn't usually let people get away with letting them flirt with Matlin."

"I wasn't flirting with her I just said 'of course your majesty'," Ogron said as he followed Selene out the door along with the other wizards.

"Yeah, but Cross is the major jealous type. This is the wizards' room, and do not worry, there are five separate beds," Selene and I couldn't hide our laughter as the wizards went to the room. Selene grabbed Duman's arm.

"Just remember not to get me angry, or else," Selene bared her fangs at Duman and he looked away.

"Got it," he walked in and closed the door. I continued to follow Selene to my room, and it was right next to her's and Lane's, perfect. She showed me the room and where to put my things and where I could put my secret stuff and where I couldn't.

"Got it?"

"Got it. Good night, Selene."

"Good night, Dakota. If you need anything, just knock on my door. don't be scared if Lane comes to the door, just say you're looking for me."

"Okay." Selene smiled at me and left my room. I looked around as I snapped my fingers and a silk nightgown appeared and replaced the one I was wearing.

_Next day_

I woke up in comfort, and without the wizards right in front of me. I got up and stretched as I looked out the window, and I admit, I can get used to a view like this. I changed into another dress, but this one was red and had one strap. I looked at my desk to see a small box with a note attached.

_Dakota,_

_Here is something for you to put in the blood that you'll have to drink._

_I suggest you put it in before anyone notices, okay?_

_If you're in the palace, then everyone will see you drink blood. You know, the VAMPIRIC Dimension?_

_Good luck,_

_~ Selene_

I smiled as I opened the box to see multiple little pills that were the size of a computer key, it was pretty small. I put the box in my pocket and I walked out the door to see the wizards waiting for me.

"Did she give you a box?"

They looked at me, "She gave us a note saying that you had it. So where is it?" Ogron said as he crossed his arms.

I looked around the hallway and saw no one else, so I quickly took the box out of my pocket and handed it to him.

"If we ever need to drink blood, just put a few of these in it," I instructed as I walked to Selene's room and knocked on the door. It opened, but a man was standing there and he didn't have a shirt on. He seemed familiar.

"Can I help you?" He looked at me angrily. I think he was asleep, and I woke him up.

"Uh, well, I looking for...um."

"Why are you stuttering?"

"You're scaring me."

He looked at me as if I was stupid, "How am I scaring you? I'm not doing anything."

"You look like I woke you up from a deep slumber."

He laughed lightly and I could faintly see his fangs, "That's because you did."

"Sorry, we're looking for," he cut me off.

"Selene?"

"Uh yeah," I tilted my head to the side and I could see Selene, still asleep on the bed, "But it looks like she's still sleeping."

"No I'm not," I could see Selene's eyes, now open and the man was smirking at her.

"Well, why didn't you get up when she knocked on the door?"

She smirked back, "Because I always do it, and you never do." She got out of bed and stretched as she waltzed over to us wearing a black, silk nightgown that went to her thighs.

"Go back to bed now, Lane. You have a night shift," she quickly kissed him and he went back to the bed as she stepped outside the door and closed it with a click. She turned around, snapped her fingers and smirked at me. She was now wearing a dark purple halter dress with black accents.

"You're scaring me? Really, Dakota?" She laughed at me and I put m hands on my hips. I noticed that whenever a vampire smiled or laughed, their fangs were showing _every_ time.

"Well, he _was_."

She smiled sadly, "Yeah, he's scary at first, but when you get to know him, he's the sweetest thing alive."

"You're just saying that because you're his mate. And what about Cross?"

She looked at me sadly, "By force. And I'm not that close to Cross, but Matlin is." She started walking away and we followed her and I tried to speed up, but she was quicker.

"Selene would you _slow down_?" She stopped and turned to look at me slowly, "What do you mean you're his mate by force?"

"I'll explain the rules and regulations later, let's go." She started to walk away again and I had to run to keep p with her.

"I don't need rules and regulations, I need answers."

"The reason I'm his mate is in the rules. The same goes for Matlin."


	9. Wedding?

_Dakota's_ _POV_

Selene was now walking in silent as all of us went out of the castle from the back entrance. Earlier she had showed us everywhere except the forbidden half of the palace, which is a lot.

She sat down on one of the benches in the garden, "I know you want to ask so go ahead." I looked in the pond and back at her.

"Why are you and Matlin forced to stay here?"

The wizards sat down on the opposite bench, but I sat next to Selene, "Because its the rule. If anyone in the royal palace wants a female, no matter what, they get her."

"But why do you have to stay here?"

"She just told you," I looked over at Valtor, "Anyone in the royal palace gets the girl they want."

Selene nodded, "Exactly, and because Lane is a royal guard," I cut her off.

"He gets to keep you. So because Cross is the prince," she cut me off.

"She has to marry him."

"Even if the female didn't want to, they would still have to?"

"Only if they live in the royal palace."

I hunched over, but Selene kept her composure and sat up like she was royalty, "Why are you sitting like that?"

"Rules," she rolled her eyes, "Speaking of rules, Cross said that _I_ had to teach them to you 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, _6_."

Suddenly there was a high-pitched scream. Selene stood up and I did to, but she shook her head.

"You stay here. This could be too dangerous, even for you." I nodded and she ran to the front of the kingdom. I turned to face the wizards.

"Come on," they followed after me to the front of the palace and we hid behind the corner, just enough to see a group of people being held by guards and Selene was in front of one of them.

"I will _ask_ you one more time. Who are you?"

"And I will _tell_ you one more time, we're the Winx!" My heart stopped as I stopped breathing.

"Am I supposed to know who you are?" I counted out 16 people in the group and 18 guards, aka, I had no chance. I did what my instincts told me to do.

"STOP!" They all looked at me, including Selene.

"Didn't I tell you to stay in the garden and wait for me, Dakota?" She looked at me softly, but angrily.

"Dakota, help!" I turned to see Stella. I recognized the high pitched voice. I looked around and saw everyone. Bloom, Stella, Tecna, Musa, Flora, Layla, Roxy, Sky, Brandon, Timmy, Riven, Helia, Nabu, and Jared. How did they all get here?

"Dakota, do you know these people?" I looked her in the eye, then looked away.

"No, I _thought_ they were my _friends_...but they're not." When I said that, Selene waved her hand and the guards started to take them inside. I stopped them and went in first and they followed after me.

"Throw them in the dungeon. There they will stay until they have a council with the prince and princess." Selene ordered the guards and they did as they were told. She looked at us, apparently it was our turn for punishment.

"Are you gonna send me to the dungeon too?" She put her hands on her hips.

"You should probably know that I _can_ send you to the dungeon if I have a good enough reason."

"But you don't," I challenged her.

She narrowed her eyes at me, "I _will_ bite you. I didn't get breakfast today." I held my hands up to show no mercy and she rolled her eyes as we went back out to the garden. When we got back to the pond, we sat down again, but she went to the castle wall.

"What're you doing?"

"Something," Selene pressed a button and soon a voice came out of it.

_"Yes Selene?"_ I recognized that voice. It was Matlin's!

"Princess, we have some new prisoners, we need an audience with you and Prince Cross."

_"What did I tell you? You don't have to speak to me formally unless someone else is around. Just call me Matlin, okay?"_

Selene smiled softly, "That's what you always said as children." I could hear Matlin slightly laugh.

_"Yeah. Hey, what about I meet you in the garden? We could talk to each other like we used to do."_

"That'd be great Matty. I'll see you in five."

_"See you in five."_

Selene exhaled and ran over to me, "No matter what she says, call her Your Highness or Princess, got it?"

"What if she tells me to call her Matlin?"

"Then call her Matlin." A few minutes later we heard a male voice, probably one of the guards.

"Good morning, Princess."

"Good morning. I'm looking for Selene. Do you know where she is?" The guard pointed towards us and Matlin nodded her head. Matlin turned towards us and started waking down the low hill.

"Hey, Selene what's up?" Matlin and Selene hugged. Her face was starting to be familiar to me and suddenly it started blurring and all I remember is her standing over me worriedly.

_5 minutes later_

I awoke laying down in the garden on a bench. I looked up to see the wizards, Selene, and Matlin looking down at me.

"Are you okay?" Matlin's question got me back to Earth.

"Huh?" I sat up and Matlin stood up straight, rules.

"When I got here, you kinda passed out. Are you okay?" She repeated her question and I nodded.

"Good, I didn't know that Selene was teaching you so early in the morning."

"What time is it?"

"15 minutes to 10."

"What?"

Valtor exhaled, "She means its 9:45." Matlin smiled at him.

"Yeah, and since I'm here and you're awake, I figured I'd get to know you 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, _6_."

"Um," I looked around at my "brothers" and they shrugged, "Sure."

Matlin smiled at me, and I could see her sharp fangs sticking out. She looked very intimidating, but kind and she was wearing a black dress that had thin straps and showed her shoulders. The arms of the dress were laced and she wore black flats with silver rhinestones on it.

"Come along, I'll show you the rest of the castle and you can ask any question you like."

"_Any_ question?" She nodded as she helped me stand up, her crown shining in the red sunlight.

"Do you wear that everywhere?" I looked up at her crown and she touched it delicately and nodded.

"Hm," Matlin started to walk and we all followed her back inside the castle. Selene started talking to her, so the wizards and I just listened.

"Matlin, there are more prisoners here in the dungeon."

"Why?"

"We don't understand what they want. They aren't being clear enough."

"So they're in the dungeon?"

"Yep. They're waiting there until they have an audience with you and your _wonderful_ fiance."

Matlin laughed, and I could remember that laugh from childhood, "You still don't like him?"

"Not one bit."

Matlin shook her head and smiled, "You better get used to him, since the wedding _is_ tomorrow."


	10. Caught

_Dakota's_ _POV_

I nearly passed out again at hearing the news so Duman whispered to me.

"Don't you _dare _pass out again." I put my hands up and started to breathe again as Matlin turned around and raised her eyebrow to me.

"Is everything okay?"

I looked up, "Huh?"

She laughed, "Is that all you say?"

"No."

"Do you only say one word answers?"

"Sometimes." Matlin laughed her beautiful laugh again, and even though she was making fun of me, I still missed the sound of her laugh.

"Anyways, Cross and I wanted to invite you and your brothers to have dinner with us tonight," Matlin turned back around as we turned one of the corners of the garden. The palace had a huge garden.

"Dinner? With Prince Cross?"

Matlin stopped walking and she turned to face me, "Yes with Cross. I'll be there too of course."

"And what will we be having?" Matlin looked at me confusedly, so Ogron spoke up to cover for me.

"She has allergies."

Matlin rolled her eyes and shook her head, "We're having blood. Is the little _vampiric_ allergic to _blood_?"

I narrowed my eyes at her and she narrowed her eyes back, "Is there something you wanna say to me? I'm _very_ reasonable." I remembered that Selene had said that to the wizards, and I knew what she meant, so Matlin must've meant the same thing.

"No, your Highness."

"Hm," Matlin looked back at Selene, "Escort them to the room to prepare for dinner, I need to have a _word_ with you."

Matlin trudged back to the front of the castle and Selene glared at me.

"If she has me killed, I'm blaming you." We watched as Selene walked over to Matlin and when she got out of ear-shot, I turned to the wizards, my back to them.

"_I can't see here so let me hear, give me a boost, lend me an ear,_" I cast a spell that allowed me to eavesdrop on them and the wizards and I listened.

"Matlin I didn't know she would do that, please don't be mad at me."

"Why would I be mad?"

Selene looked at her confusedly, "I thought you would be mad that she was challenging you."

"Oh please, she wasn't challenging me. If she was, I would've noticed. It was a simple slip of the tongue, she didn't mean any harm."

"Okay good, now what did you want to talk to me about?"

"The prisoners, we'll have to have the audience right now if we can keep our time correct for dinner."

"Um, okay, I'll have Lane bring them right away." Matlin smiled.

"Good, I'll see you soon." Selene waved her off and Matlin left as Selene ran back over to us.

"You got lucky, I thought I would lose my head."

"Yeah, me too. Is Cross going to be after me?"

"What? Of course not, why would you think that?"

"You said he would try to-"

"If he knew you were her sister. Do you listen much?"

"No," Gantlos said and I glared at him.

"_Sometimes_."

Selene laughed, "Okay, now I see what Matlin means by you only answer with one word. Come on, we've gotta go get you dressed up."

"_This_ isn't dressed up?"

"Uh, no, that's a casual dress."

I looked at her in astonishment, "This is a casual dress? This is one of the most fancy dresses I've ever worn."

"Wait until you see the _formal_ dresses." Selene took my arm, "Come on wizards, you have to get dressed up too." I heard Gantlos sigh and I laughed at him childishly. He glared at me and I stuck my tongue out. Selene shoved them in their room and picked out five male outfits.

"Pick what you want out of these five, nothing more, got it?" They nodded and we left their room and she took me to my room. She went through my closet until she finally found something she liked.

"Here," she handed me a red, silk dress that went to my knees and had black designs on the waistline, it was gorgeous.

"Meet me at my door okay? And don't be scared if Cross comes to the door."

_5 minutes later_

I was now wearing the dress Selene layed out for me and the wizards were now wearing the suits she picked out. They looked a lot better than what they used to wear.

"Okay, now what?"

"I guess we wait," I started to walk back to my room, but Gantlos grabbed my arm and dragged me back to the door.

"There's nothing to fear, but fear itself," I kept repeating it over and over again until they'd had enough. Ogron knocked on the door and got out the way so they would think that I did it.

"_Selene, someone's at the door._"

"_You answer it. I'm trying to get my dress on._"

Lane opened the door and to my surprise, he looked good. He was wearing his guard uniform, but I could tell that he was attending the dinner tonight too.

"Hey, Selene?"

"What is it?" Selene walked next him and I could see her still trying to put on her earrings, but the ribbons were still untied on her waist.

"Lane, can you-" he nodded as he went behind her and started to tie it for her and she finally finished putting her earring on.

"Hey, Dakota. You look great!"

"You do too. Are you ready?"

"As soon as Lane finishes tying my ribbon I will be." As soon as she said that, Lane had finished tying the bow and wrapped his arms around her. He sank his fangs into her neck and she slightly moaned with pleasure. When he let go, he kissed her neck and whispered something to her. She nodded and he went past me down the hallway.

"Hmm," I could see Selene smiling as she closed the door.

"Come on," she started to lead us to the dining room where there was a long table with four chairs on one half, but the other half had the other chairs.

"Didn't that hurt you?"

Selene left her happy moment, "What?"

"When he bit your neck, did it hurt?"

"I was wondering when you would ask that. To others, like you and the wizards, its an attack, but to other vampires, its like a kiss."

"A very painful kiss?"

"No, a very pleasurable one. You wouldn't understand since you're not real vampires or vampirics."

"What's the difference?"

Selene rolled her eyes at me, "Vampirics are vampire children 17 years and younger, but vampires are 18 and older. Anything else before you embarrass yourself?"

"How will I embarrass myself?" Selene hit her forehead roughly, "Sorry, was I _not_ supposed to answer that?"

She shook her head, "No, no you weren't. I have to go, the trial is starting now and then I have to come back to have dinner. Oh joy." Selene left the room, but she stuck her head back through the door.

"Don't follow me or leave this room, got it?"

"Just go Selene, we won't, I promise," I said reassuringly. She rolled her eyes at me as she left the room.

"5, 4, 3, 2, now," the wizards followed me to the door and I peeped out of it to make sure Selene was gone, and she was. We snuck down the hall to the main room and luckily, we could still hear through the door.

"_Okay, so you arrived at the palace for what reason?_"

"_We were looking for someone!_"

"_You dare yell at me in my own palace._"

"_Y-You're the prince?_"

"_Yes, I am._"

"_We are SO sorry, your Highness._"

"_Who are you?_" I heard a softer voice say, and it must've been Matlin because I don't think I've ever seen Cross be nice before.

"_We're the Winx._"

"_Hm, yes. I believe I've heard of you before. You are not vampires, b__ut you are have came to this dimension disguised as vampires, which is quite offensive._"

"_We didn't mean to offend anybody, Princess, we swear. We were looking for a girl named Dakota._"

I heard a pause, but then Cross spoke up, and he sounded surprisingly happy as if he were smiling, "_Selene, go and fetch Dakota and her brothers._"

"_Yes, your Highness._" We quickly went back to the dining room and as soon as we closed the door, Selene opened it and beckoned for us to go into the throne room. As soon as I stepped foot in their, two guards grabbed my arms as Cross stood up.

"What's the meaning of this?" I asked as he came a few feet closer to me.

"You are a fraud, Dakota. These people here say that you _have_ no brothers, just a _sister_."


	11. Punishment

_Dakota's_ _POV_

I looked at Cross in astonishment, but then my eyes met Jared's. The wizards and I were forced to our knees, our arms being held.

"You honestly thought that you could get away with your deception and trickery?" I looked up at Cross as he looked down at me in anger.

"I'm very sor-"

"Now is not the time for apologies, Dakota. If that's even your real name."

I glared at him, "It _is_ my real name." Suddenly Matlin got up from her throne and came over to me.

"If Dakota is your real name, and you are really 18, why are you here?"

"I'm looking for my sister." I saw her eyes widen, "And to tell her to come home and remember me."

Matlin said nothing for a long time, "Stand up."

"I can't, your guards are holding me down," I said sarcastically as the guards forced me to my feet.

"Take off the disguise spell," I looked at her in shock, but her face remained solid. I did as I was told and my regular clothes from when I first got here. My hair turned back to normal, my eyes went back to normal, and my fangs had disappeared.

"What about your gloves?" I exhaled as she looked at me sorrowfully.

"I'll only take them off if you get rid of excess people." She sighed as she waved her hand off to the guards.

"This is now a private audience. Only the guards with prisoners may stay." About seven guards left the room, but the rest of them stayed.

"Now, take off your gloves."

"I'll take off mine if you take off yours," I challenged, but she didn't seem to care. She cautiously took off her gloves, revealing the crescent moon birth mark on her right hand.

"Now take off yours," I did as I was told when the guards let go of my arms. I slowly took off my right glove and turned them both over to mock her. She exhaled loudly as she reached over and took off my other glove, revealing my matching sun birth mark and the silver ring.

She covered her mouth with her right hand and I took it in my left, and the there was a sudden glow of energy at our fingertips. When we moved our hands away, the silver ring transformed into the scepter and flew into her hands.

"Its you," she whispered as she made the scepter back into a ring and threw it to me, but it came back to her and landed on her finger, "You're my little sister, Dakota." I saw her eyes starting to well up with tears and I embraced her.

"Yeah, its me. Hi, Matlin," I could feel her stroking my hair and I felt more comfort than I had for 10 years.

"Wait," she pulled away and looked me in the eyes, "we don't have brothers. So who are they?" Cross raised his hand and the guards forced the wizards to their feet.

"If I told you the truth, would you protect me?"

"Of course I would Dakota. I'm here for you now." I could see the wizards glaring at me, but I wasn't afraid as long as Matlin was by my side.

"Make sure they can't move first though please," I looked hopeful at Cross and he glared at me menacingly.

"They already can't move. Just say it."

I exhaled as I looked at the Winx, "They're evil wizards from the Magical Dimension who only helped me get here to meet you so that they could use the power of the Magical Balance to take over the Magic Dimension." I said in one breath and Matlin looked at me in astonishment.

"You're going to regret that, Dakota," Ogron managed to get his arm out of the grip of one of the guards and shot an attack at me, but before it hit me, Matlin put her hand out and caught it with little effort.

She narrowed her eyes at Ogron as she used her hand to push her crown further up and crush the attack in her other hand, "These five wizards are going to be the peace offering for the ceremony, prepare their bodies immediately!" The guards used every ounce of force they had and pulled the wizards out of the room and shut the doors loudly.

"Matlin I-"

"Wait...3, 2, 1." Suddenly I heard the wizards yell in agonizing pain, signaling me that they were now..._dead_.

"You can talk now," she raised her hand, signaling the guards to release the Winx and Specialists.

"Matlin I'm _so_ sorry for lying to you," I said as I buried my face in her hair and she held me like that.

"Yes, and I hate to break up this beautiful family moment, but you still disobeyed the rules of this dimension." I turned to see Cross standing directly behind Matlin and he put his arms around her and slightly pushed me away, signaling for me to let go of her. I complied as he held her closer, I must've forgotten the part when Selene said he would do anything to keep her to himself, that is _definetly_ what I call love.

"I'll do _anything_ to prove how sorry I am Matlin, please."

Matlin started to think, but I don't think she could think clearly with Cross putting his face in her neck, he was obviously trying to throw her off, and it looked like it was working.

"Dakota, your deception can...only be removed by the royal family."

"That's _you_ right?"

To my despair, she shook her head, "That's Cross, his brother, his mother, and his father."

"The two princes, the queen and the king? Aren't you the princess though?"

"Don't worry, Cross is _very_ reasonable. Besides, his brother is too, and I can't make any decisions like this because I'm not married to Cross yet."

I started to laugh nervously as the Winx and Specialists came up behind me, "Can we move the wedding to, you know, _now?_" Matlin laughed.

"Of course not, its tomorrow. I'm sure you can wait until tomorrow for me to turn 21."

"21? Aren't you already 21 though?"

"Uh, no, right now I'm 20. Do the math."

"Okay, so when will this be?"

She looked up and started to draw the air with her finger as if she was doing math, "We need to get dad and Ms. Faragonda, and then we could have it within an hour."

"An HOUR!"

She nodded, "60 minutes. I'll send a couple messengers to go get them so you don't even have to worry about that."

I laughed nervously as she and Cross left the room, but I noticed Cross smirking at me. That's not good.

"I am _so_ dead if Cross is deciding my fate." Jared embraced me and I hugged him back.

"Tell us what happened, Dakota," I nodded as I told them everything that happened ever since I got to the palace. Then I remembered Selene by the time I got to the end.

"Selene, you're not telling me the truth about your identity." She looked at me as if I were crazy.

"What are you talking about?"

"Tell me what you really are," I demanded as she looked at me softly.

She exhaled sadly, "I'm her messenger, I admit, but I'm also her protector while she's in the palace. Its my duty to keep her safe from all harms." I looked at the ribbon on her waist.

"Yes, my ribbon is holding a weapon on my waist," she said as she looked at me, "I'm not allowed to tell people this kind of stuff just in case something like _this_ happened."

I waited about half an hour until Lane came in with my dad and Ms. Faragonda. As soon as they saw me, I ran to them and hugged them.

"Dakota, where are the wizards?"

"I double-crossed them. They're the peace offering for the Vampirics and the Lycans now," I said as I cracked a smile, "They're dead." My dad stroked my hair probably to make sure I was alive.

"Are you okay, Dakota?" Ms. Faragonda asked worriedly and I nodded.

_The Trial_

I must've dosed off for a while because I awoke to the doors opening loudly, so I quickly stood up. One of the guards took my wrist and pulled me to the edge of the long red rug that went from the door to the thrones. I saw a pale man and woman walk through the doors; the king and queen. Then I saw Cross walk in with Matlin on his arm and then the other prince came in..._Rick!_ They all walked to their separate thrones. Matlin looked at dad and Ms. Faragonda the entire walk down the room and as she quietly sat down next to Cross.

"Bring her forward," the king demanded. The guard who had my arm pulled me down in front of them all and my eyes locked contact with Rick's. He seemed surprised to see me, so I looked away.

"She reminds me of you, Matlin," the queen said softly. I saw Matlin smile.

"She's my little sister," Matlin admitted honestly, "And I know that I have no decision in this-"

"No, you don't," the king cut her off, but let her continue.

"But I would do _anything_ to keep her safe, so please, don't hurt her in any way. I've come from personal experience when I say these punishments can easily _scar_ someone."

The king and queen looked at her sadly as Cross caressed her hand, "Yes, Matlin, but you must remember that what she's done is a serious matter." Matlin nodded as she sat back in her chair.

"Now, we order our punishments by how many codes, laws, and/or rules you've broken," Rick instructed as he kept his composure, "One will be to have you do service for other vampires, two will be would be banishment, and three or more would be _death_." I gulped as I noticed my dad's eyes widen as well as Matlin's.

"Naming of all of them, you have committed fraud of saying you were a vampire, true or false?" the king asked me.

I looked down, "True."

"You snuck into the palace and lied about your identity?"

"True."

"You put the Princess in danger of being harmed?"

I quickly counted how many I had already said before I exhaled and said my answer, "...True." The royal family looked at each other, except for Matlin, and nodded at each other. They all stood up except for Matlin and Selene was standing right next to her and shook her head as the guards forced me to my feet roughly. Cross took off his crown and gave it to a guard nearby and he approached me until he was directly in front of me.

"That's three. Do you know what that means?" He smirked at me as he started to come closer. He tilted my head in a rough grip and forced it to the side as he bared his fangs.

"You should've never come here, Dakota," he whispered to me, probably so Matlin couldn't hear him. He leaned in to my neck slowly and my heartbeat sped up.

"STOP!" Cross grunted and turned around, but to my surprise, it was Matlin who was now standing, tears in her eyes.


	12. Royal Pain

_Matlin's_ _POV_

I looked at Cross with hatred in my eyes and he looked back at me in surprise as Queen Lana spoke up.

"Matlin, you have no place to be disrupting her punishment," she said sternly, but softly, yet I shook my head.

"King Samuel and Queen Lana please, don't give her a punishment like this. She doesn't deserve this."

"Princess Matlin," King Samuel said, "this girl has broken 3 rules of this dimension, and the dimension that _you_ will soon be ruling over."

"Yes, you must understand that this is what's be-"

"Don't you _dare_ say it's for the best because it's _not,_" I spat with venom in my voice. "Dakota is my sister and I will protect her from anyone and everything, even if I don't rule this dimension, I will _not_ let you kill my little sister."

The King and Queen stayed in silence for a while, so I spoke up, "Shouldn't she at least know how our mother died? Or should I say was _killed_?"

They exhaled and nodded their heads as I looked at the guards, "Let her go, _now_." They hesitated, but when the King raised his hand, they let her go. She tried to run to me, but Cross roughly grabbed her arm and forced her back.

"Tell every guard to leave except for Lane, Xavier (ha-vee-air), Nicholas, and Zander," I demanded. The Queen raised her hand as well and the guards all left except for the four I recommended. I glared at Cross and bared my fangs.

"I don't care if you don't want to marry me after this and I don't care if I'll be killed, but .." Cross stubbornly denied to release her. He can be so hard headed at times.

"Cross, I said to let Dakota go..._now_." I bared my fangs for emphasis, so he slowly released his grip on her wrist.

"Come here," Dakota ran past Cross to me and he didn't even have the urge to pull her back. She clung to my waist and I rubbed her back.

"Do you want to know _exactly_ how mom died, Dakota?" I asked as she nodded, so I started to tell her what happened 10 years ago tomorrow.

**Flashback-10 years ago**

_My mom and I were being hauled to the throne room by our arms and I was scared, very scared. I didn't know what was going to happen to us. We were forced to our knees in front of the young princes, king, and queen. We were told to say "true" or "false" if we committed that crime, and if we committed 3 crimes or more, we would be killed._

_"True or false: you both committed fraud by saying you were a vampire?"_

_My mother answered for me, "True."_

_"You snuck into the palace and lied about your identity?"_

_"...True."_

_"You killed one of our kind?"_

_I looked at my mom. I hadn't known that she had done that, "...True."_

_Suddenly, we were forced to our feet and two vampire guards stood in front of us and roughly tilted our necks, but my mother yelled._

_"No! Matlin had nothing to do with it!" The king and queen nodded, so the guard let go of my face, but my mother stayed in that position._

_"Mom?"_

_"It's okay, Matlin, everything will be okay, I promise." I nodded, but I sensed something was wrong when the guard quickly bent over and sank his fangs into my mother's neck as she screamed loudly._

_"Mom!" I tried to break free, but the guard held me down. I saw them let go of my mother, but she fell to the ground. I tried over and over again to get to her, I screamed her name, but she never moved from that spot._

_"Take this girl to the farthest end of the Dimension and send her away!" the king ordered as the guards started to drag me away. I glared at the older prince._

_"I hate you! You took my mother away! I hate you terribly! I wish you were dead!" all he did was smirk at me as he spoke up._

_"Father, I believe that she is the one I want," I managed to hear him say._

_"Cross, she is a spy, she cannot be the one you want," the woman said surprisingly._

_"She is the one I want. You said so yourselves, I could have anyone I want, and I want_ her_._"

_The man and woman looked at each other sadly, but nodded their heads._

_"Scratch the banishment, take her to the dungeon, where she will wait to be prepared."_

_I kept screaming and yelling as they dragged me back to the dungeon and locked it. I knew I was never going to be able to leave this dimension, and I would never see my mother again._

**End Flashback**

I could faintly see tears streaming down Dakota's face.

"I lost my mother, but I am _not_ losing you, Dakota. Or dad, and if anyone has a problem with that, speak now." King Samuel looked at me with compassion.

"We're very sorry, Princess, but we have to deny your request. This is where Cross comes in, so this is his decision to let her go, not yours." Suddenly, Dakota was ripped away from me and back into the guards' hands. Before Cross could bite her, I interrupted once again.

"Cross!" he stopped, but he didn't look at me.

"What?"

"Do you remember what you said to me the day I was changed?" I saw his expression change to look more softer, but as quickly it was there, that's how quick it disappeared.

"Yes."

"What did you say to me _exactly_?"

I heard him exhale before he answered, "I told you that I would love you forever and...I would never hurt you in any way."

"And by killing my sister, you're hurting me," I said softly. "If you kill her Cross I swear I'll-"

"You'll what?" he cut me off as he challenged me. I was mad. Before she could react, I took Selene's knife from the ribbon on her dress. She, as well as Cross, gasped at me.

"So what'll you do, Matlin, kill me? You did say that day that you wished I was dead," I saw him smirk, but I could always tell when he didn't mean something, and he didn't mean it.

"If you had my mom killed, and you're going to kill Dakota," I aimed the knife at my stomach as I looked back at him, "then I'll kill myself." I saw the color from Cross' and his family's faces drain.

"Matlin, please calm down," Rick tried to calm me down, but it wasn't working.

I shook my head as Queen Lana tried as well, "Matlin, put the weapon down so you don't hurt yourself."

I shook my head again as King Samuel tried furthermore, "Please Matlin, no one wants you to do this to yourself."

I kept shaking my head as Cross came closer and I felt a tear drop fall down my face as I looked at him, "Matlin, I love you more than you can ever imagine, please, don't do this."

"Will you hurt Dakota?" I managed to whisper and he shook his head.

"I won't hurt a hair on her head, just put the knife down, okay?" I nodded as I dropped the knife to the ground and he embraced me. He gently stroked my hair to soothe me. I didn't want anything to happen to Dakota as long as I was alive. The Queen played with her own blonde hair as she stood up and stroked my back and Cross let me go.

"You will make a _wonderful_ Queen one day Matlin, you know that?"

I looked at her confusedly as the King came down from his throne as well, "Indeed, I had my doubts at first, but to risk you own life for someone else takes great courage."

I managed to crack a smile as Cross replaced his crown on his head and straightened out mine, "I admit, I thought I was crazy when I saw you that day, but I knew you were the one for me, you know?" I laughed as I clung to his neck and wrapped his hands around my waist.

"I love you, Cross."

"I love you too, Matlin." He leaned down and kissed me passionately on the lips. I finally understand what it meant to love someone.


	13. Our new beginnings

_Matlin's POV_

This is it. This is the day.

"You look beautiful, Matlin," I heard Selene say as she finished pinning my hair. I looked in the mirror to see the beautiful black lace dress I was wearing. it wasn't poofy and layered like other dresses, but it was Queen Lana's wedding dress, so she allowed me to wear it to mine. I hope I make a good queen.

"You look even more than beautiful," I smiled at Dakota as she smiled warmly at me, "and thank you. For what you did for me yesterday."

"No problem, now let's go, I _can't_ be late for this." All three of us laughed as there was a knock on the door.

"Come in, Lane, I know it's you," Selene said as Lane opened the door and smiled.

"Am I intruding?" I smiled as Selene laughed and kissed him lovingly, "It's time to start, my Queen." I laughed.

"I'm not the Queen," he looked at me sideways.

"Well, you will be. Come on," Lane led all of us to the throne room and when we got there, Dakota sat next to Jared and Palladium. Avalon, Wizgiz, Palladium, DuFour, Griselda, Ms. Faragonda, my dad, they were all here for me. I saw them smile and I smiled back as I walked towards Cross at the end of the aisle. When I got there, he smiled at me.

"You look beautiful, my love," he whispered. I blushed as I returned my thanks and the man started to speak.

"Prince Cross, do you take Princess Matlin as your lawful, wedded mate, to love and to cherish in sickness and in health, for richer or poor, as long as you both shall live?"

"I do." I smiled as Cross looked me in the eyes.

"Princess Matlin, do you take Prince Cross, as _your_ lawful, wedded mate, to love and to cherish in sickness and in health, for richer or poor, as long as you both shall live?"

"I do." I noticed the king and queen smile at us and I nodded.

"I now pronounce you vampire and mate. You may now _kiss_ the bride in honor of the Magical Dimension," Cross leaned down kissed me tenderly on the lips and then he pulled away.

"Now in honor of the Vampiric Dimension," we both leaned into each other and bit each others necks lovingly and the people who had attended all cheered as we backed away and smiled. I could see Queen Lana, King Samuel, Rick and the other royals that attended the wedding.

"I love you, Matlin," he whispered in my ear.

"I love you too."

"Now," King Samuel announced, "now wedded, my eldest son, Cross shall now take over the throne with his new wife." We both turned around and bowed our heads as the king stood behind Cross and his mother stood behind me.

"Cross," his father started as he removed his princely crown and replaced it with his own, "I hereby claim you as King of the Vampiric Dimension." The crowd clapped and cheered as his mother spoke up.

"Matlin," she removed my princess crown and replaced it with her own as well, "_I_ hereby claim you Queen of the Vampiric Dimension." The crowd cheered once again, and even _Rick_ was happy for us, even though he couldn't claim the throne.

We both raised our heads and looked at each other and smiled lovingly at each other as we stepped down the steps and walked down the aisle, arm in arm.

_Dakota's POV_

I'm so proud of Matlin. It had taken a while, but I finally found her, and she's filled the empty hole that was left in my heart. I heard the Specialists whispering to Jared as Matlin and Cross both came over to me.

"Dakota, Cross and I want to show you something," Matlin said as she smiled. I looked at Cross and he glared at me. My eyes widened, but the glare slowly turned into a smile and a nod of approval. I smiled as I saw the Specialists pushing Jared towards me and Matlin nodded and laughed.

"But someone wants to ask you something first I'm guessing," she pulled Cross away and they talked to the past king and queen as Jared almost fell on me. I put my hands up and I caught his, and without falling down, managed to push him off of me.

"Smooth," I smirked as he scratched his head and smiled shyly.

"They pushed to hard," I looked at him and I could see his nervousness building up.

"Is there something you wanna ask me?"

"Uh yeah there kinda is. Dakota will you...go out on a date with me?" he asked quietly. I blushed slightly.

"I thought you'd never ask. I'd _love _to Jared." I leaned in and slowly kissed him on the cheek and went over to Matlin and Cross as they led me out of the room. We started heading towards the long end of the hallway that Selene had never showed me. She always told me it was forbidden, so I guess they're showing me something important. We walked to a staircase made of stone and walked down.

"Dakota, do you remember what our mother looked like?" Matlin asked me as we walked through the dark hall, the only source of light were multiple torches hung on the wall.

"No, why?" We got to the end of the hall and Cross opened the door for us and we all walked in to see a glass case and someone laying inside it.

"Is this-"

"Yeah. This is Sarah, our mother," Matlin said as she and Cross led me to the case to see a young woman. She had jet black hair like Matlin's and she was a bit taller than her too.

"She's so pretty," I said in awe as I looked at her pale face.

"Yes," Cross said as he wrapped his arm around Matlin's waist, "I had them bring her body down here 10 years ago, the day of the trial."

I turned to look at him, "Why?"

"Because. Your sister was very annoyed of me, but I _knew_ if I gave her something that she really wanted, she would soon love me."

"And I did," I turned to Matlin's smiling face, "he gave me the chance to see my mother any day I wanted to. The day he showed me this, I realized 'maybe he's not so bad after all' and I was right."

"Thank you Matlin, for everything," I said as I hugged her and she hugged me back.

"And of course you are welcome to come back any time you want, Dakota. You will be treated as our guest."

"She will?" She playfully glared at Cross.

"Yes, she _will_."

**In the Lycan Dimension the next night_-Matlin's POV_**

I walked by Cross' side as I clung to his arm and Selene walked next to me. Cross was wearing his usual kingly attire and I was now wearing my brand new queenly attire. Lane wore his usual guard uniform and Selene was wearing a black lace halter dress with black flats. We all quietly walked through the woods until we came to an opening that contained the king and queen of the Lycan Dimension. They wore crowns like ours except theirs were thicker while ours were slightly slimmer and delicate.

"Cross," the king said as he extended his hand to Cross and he cautiously shook it. The king and queen looked our age, but age is just a number. Vampires and Lycanthropes don't usually get along, but if we bring yearly peace offering every other year, and they bring it the years we don't, then our Dimensions will never have conflict.

"King Doug, Queen Sivan, its a pleasure to see you."

"You as well King Cross. I see you have finally chosen a mate and have been crowned," he looked me up and down as our guards brought in the wizards' bodies.

"Yes, I have. We have both brought you 5x more an offering this year, for our unity and peace for another year." I nodded as I watched my guards place the bodies one by one next to each other.

"Well, I believe that we should let our wives light the candles," King Doug said as Sivan smiled at me and I smiled back. She's a friendly person, I'm glad we're making peace and not war; I would've won.

"Matlin," Cross signaled me to take a match as Sivan reached out to hand one to me. I delicately took them as Selene and Lane held each held a candle in their right hand. Two of their guards held one as well. Sivan and I both lit a match simultaneously and lit the candles. Selene cracked a small smile at me and I smiled back as we both blew out the matches, leaving a trail of smoke in the air.

They handed me both of the candles and I gave one to Cross. Sivan gave one of the candles to Doug and all four of us walked to the wizards' bodies.

"A peace offering for our year of no war, but peace," Sivan said as she and Doug raised their candles in the moonlight.

"To friendship and bonded unity," I said as we raised our candles as well. In unison, we all placed a lit candle on the corners of the wizards, lighting them.

(My thoughts:)

* * *

_As I watched them burn, I realized:_ _they were in disguise as they burned._

_Symbolizing their trickery and deception._

_Their bodies burned for about an hour __and there we stayed __as we all watched them disintegrate __into nothing._

_I knew that with Cross by my side, __I would never have to worry._

_He would keep me safe and I would do the same for him._

_My sister and I never wore gloves again, in honor of our bond._

_She is happy and that's all that matters._

_Because we all must realize something:_

_Our enemies are only enemies if they except that title._

_Dakota and I should know, but our title is different._

_We are the same._

_We are one._

_We are both._

_The Balance Protector_


End file.
